Book 1 of The Tracker
by Robin deLynn
Summary: Seth's greedy treasure hunting digs up an artifact which may fulfill Raxtus' wish to become, at least, partially normal. The prospect of having a human avatar has Raxtus getting his friends working hard to find the needed rare ingredients. Living as a human is unexpectedly thrilling. Especially when his 'cover job' as a tracker leads him to startling facts about his family.
1. End of a Great Summer

End of a Great Summer

Based on characters from Fablehaven© by Brandon Mull. The original characters and plot details are my property. No copyright infringement intended.

Ah, silence! Well, not exactly silence but no fairy giggles.

Raxtus lay relaxing in the shady cool grass. His platinum scales and blue spikes occasionally shimmered with rainbow iridescence as the sunlight broke through the fluttering leaves of the tree overhead. He stretched out almost the full length of the thirty foot long swimming pool and enjoyed the virtual solitude, the lack of fairies swarming over him and their accompanying continuous giggles. Kendra didn't normally exert her control over fairies, but today she had banished them from the pool area while he was there.

It was not silent though he could hear his human friends, Seth and Kendra, racing each other in the pool, splashing their way from one end to the other. That was a nice sound, the sound of his friends having fun.

They had spent the morning flying. Seth and Kendra were about to go back to school. Even though they didn't attend public school, their parents made them follow the school year for their home schooling. This weekend summer would be over and Raxtus wanted to take them fancy flying. For a last 'rollercoaster ride', as Kendra described it. Their happy laughing and their enthusiastic squeals as he spiraled and looped greatly enhanced the pleasure he always felt when flying.

One thing he hadn't expected was that Seth had grown quite a bit since the last time he had taken the two flying together. Though younger, Seth was taller and heavier than Kendra was now, and it made fancy aerobatic flying with the two of them extremely challenging. On the last loop he caught a bad gust of wind and with the extra weight throwing him off balance it was more difficult to compensate. They landed safely but he was feeling the twinge of a pulled flight muscle in his back.

That would be the last time he could do loops and spirals with them together. Regular flying was no problem; getting the two of them from one place to the other was easy especially with Kendra's unique ability to boost his strength and stamina with just her touch.

The splashing stopped; it sounded as if their race was over. They were at the other end of the pool, in the far corner talking softly but their whispered words began to reach him.

"Don't you dare ask him," Kendra's voice was vehement.

Raxtus wondered what they were talking about and listened closely.

"But if he has an avatar, he can go swimming with us. I'd love to play with him," Seth said, excited.

Oh no, Raxtus thought.

"No, he can't," Kendra denied.

"Can't…?" Seth prompted her.

"Can't go swimming," she replied. She had told Seth that Raxtus had an avatar but she hadn't described him, she had kept his secret. She had never seen a fairy or fairy-like creature submerged in water, at least not on purpose. They bathed and splash around like birds, but did not swim. Their wings were the problem and would be Raxtus' also, in his avatar form.

"Why?" Seth asked, confused.

Raxtus listened intently. What would she tell him? What had she told him?

"Look, Seth, just forget it. Take my word, he won't do it, so don't ask," she said exasperated, wondering what brought on the sudden 'need' to swim with Raxtus. She had told him about Raxtus having an avatar almost a year ago. Why did he suddenly think of Raxtus in avatar form anyway?

Seth wouldn't let it go. "Why?" he asked again irritatingly.

Kendra sighed, "He… he says the fairies giggle at him so he won't…."

"Well, you banned the fairies so that's not an excuse," he retorted and looked at her cynically. He wanted to see, to know, to have someone to play with other than his sister.

"He won't do it. Please don't even ask him," she said pleadingly with her best puppy dog eyes, the ones she saved for her most serious of favors.

Seth caved.

"Ok, I won't ask but I _will_ bug him to come swimming; maybe he will do it on his own since the fairies aren't here," he said hopefully and started swimming again.

Raxtus sighed. He wished he could swim with his friend. Kendra was right, in his avatar form he couldn't swim, he wouldn't know how. He would love to play with Seth but the way his avatar was, he wouldn't invoke it and wouldn't even if all the fairies were banned from the earth to the fairy realm. It wasn't just fairy scorn that kept him from changing.

"Hey Raxtus! How ya doing over there?" Seth called from the edge of the pool, his fingers gripping the tile edging and his chin bobbing just above them.

"Great! The grass is cool and the shade feels nice," he answered, thinking that the lack of fairies climbing all over his body made all the difference.

"Too bad you can't get in the pool," he said for the third time.

Now knowing what was on his mind, Seth's request made a little more sense.

"Well the water would overflow and leave you with a half full pool when I got out," he repeated for the second time, not revealing that he heard their conversation.

"Yeah, yeah," Seth conceded. He swam away and climbed up onto a float. He gave up and closed his eyes. In his mind, he replayed the exciting last looping maneuver Raxtus had made before they landed, it was amazing.

I wish I could swim with you, I wish I had a normal avatar that could play, Raxtus thought. For some reason he closed his eyes and he wished real hard. Somehow… Someway… Please!

He heard more splashing and sighed, not the question again.

Raxtus watched through half open eyes relieved as it was Kendra who got out of the pool. She wrapped a towel around her waist and came over to him.

"Where does it hurt?" she asked, sitting next to his head.

"What?" he asked confused. He looked up at her, opening his half-veiled ice blue eyes.

"Where does it hurt?" she asked again the concern on her face was plain.

"How did you know I'm hurt?" He lifted his head from the grass to her eye level.

"I could tell. So can I help? You know massage a muscle or something?" She smiled and looked down the long line of his spiky neck to his wing covered body. She held up her arms wiggling her fingers as if she was actually going to try.

"I don't think so," he said dubiously, wondering if a massage would do anything for his aching muscle. He, of course, had never had one and only knew about them from the TV programs he had seen. "I'll see Bracken tomorrow afternoon, he can fix it then. It's not that bad." He doubted that she even had the strength to get through his scales to his muscles. Maybe if she jumped on them. He laughed to himself picturing her jumping up and down on his back.

"Oh look," she said excited and leaned toward his raised head. She reached out and pulled something from the flattened grass where his head had just been. "A four leaf clover," she giggled and held it up for him to see. "Do you want to make a wish?" she asked.

I just did, he sighed to himself thinking of his earlier stupid unachievable wish. "No, you go ahead," he said and shook his head.

She closed her eyes and mumbled.

"What did you wish?" he asked curiously when she opened her eyes again.

She looked up at him with a big smile on her face. "Mom says if you tell your wish it won't come true, but I don't believe it. I wished…."

His stomach chose that moment to grumble loudly. She laughed at the noise and he laughed too. It growled again.

"Hungry? Or is something trying to get out?" she asked with a laugh.

"Now that I think of it; it has been a week since I last ate. Hmm. Stan has some good looking elands on the ranch; I think I'll go eat before I leave. I should be leaving anyway. I'll go tell Stan I'm taking an eland and maybe a goat too if I'm still hungry. Tell Seth I'll leave the horns for him," he said raising his head higher.

She laughed at the thought of him eating an eland. His body was about the size of an eland. Granted his long neck, thicker legs and tail made him larger and heavier but there was no way he could eat a thousand pound eland or could he? He seems serious, she thought.

Kendra sat watching his head rising higher and higher as he got to his feet.

"Thanks for the reprieve from the fairies," he said smiling his toothy grin at her as he towered over her.

"Anytime," she smiled looking up at him.

She raised her hand above her head, palm outward. He lowered his head and nuzzled it. He felt her warming fairy magic flow into him, and it eased the pain in his back more than a little. She was a wonderful friend; she hadn't told Seth about his avatar, only that he had one. He was glad she hadn't told her wish, she deserved to get it, whatever it was.

Kendra felt his smooth scale hard nose and cool breath on her hand and could feel the magic flowing into him, warming him. She hoped that it would help ease his discomfort. She wasn't sure what had happened just before they landed but she knew that the wind had caught him wrong and the jerk in the air was not intentional. She was glad he would see Bracken tomorrow; he would heal him.

Her mind wandered effortlessly to her busy and often absent boyfriend. Tall and handsome with long white blonde hair and piercing dark sapphire blue eyes, healing was just one of Bracken's many inherent talents. Another of his talents was kissing, she thought dreamily and butterflies suddenly fluttered in her stomach. Tomorrow he would be right here for the end of summer party. A smile crossed her face, she couldn't wait.

"You leavin?" Seth asked as he sat up on the pool float and looked up at the dragon now towering over the pool.

"Yes, I'm going to get something to eat. See you tomorrow afternoon," he replied.

"Yah, see you tomorrow – party time!" Seth whooped and lay back on the float.

Raxtus headed toward the open yard on the other side of the hedge, he needed room for his wings to spread out. He knew Stan and some others were at the ranch. He had seen them while they were flying overhead.

In the garden Fairies swarmed him. With a little leap and a great sweep of his wings, he was airborne. Fairies swirling in the backwash giggled and, once righted, followed him up and out of the garden. They gave up as he sped off; they couldn't keep up.

Fablehaven was a secret sanctuary, one of many, where magical animals and creatures lived securely. These were creatures, some dangerous and some benign, most humans didn't know existed or thought were myths.

It was a big preserve with very diverse 'wildlife' and the need for food animals was great. The Caretakers, Stan and Ruth Sorenson, Seth and Kendra's grandparents, had made a great effort to keep large herds of animals for the various beasts and creatures that were meat eaters. Raxtus tried not to take advantage of the availability of prey at Fablehaven but it was difficult when there was so much from which to choose.

Dragons needed special permission to eat at Fablehaven otherwise they would have wiped out the ranch in days. Being the smallest dragon he easily got permission from the Caretakers to take a herd beast twice a month. Eating wasn't a big deal to him. It filled his belly and gave him energy. He knew he needed to eat but he didn't take pleasure in killing his prey like other dragons.

Kendra had laughed at him when he said he would eat an eland. True, the animal was almost as big as he was, but he could eat most all of it and it would fuel his body for almost two weeks. He had others that enjoyed the meal with him also. As he neared the ranch he trumpeted a call to the local scavengers. Immediately dwarf vultures, harpy gulls, and young griffons filled the air around him, and on the ground below a small herd of four footed scavengers tracked his flight.

For some reason Seth liked the horns of the eland. They were visually a cross between a unicorn horn and a small dragon spike but not precisely like either. Raxtus didn't know what Seth did with the horns but if he could provide his friend with something he liked, he didn't see any reason not to choose an eland for dinner.

Stan kept the majority of the herds, the breeders and the young, behind specially warded areas so nothing could molest them. There was a two hundred acre 'feeding area' where mature animals were brought to graze. There they took their chances at become someone's meal. Raxtus and his hungry and quarrelsome entourage headed there.


	2. New Shadow Skills

New Shadow Skills

Based on characters from Fablehaven© by Brandon Mull. The original characters and plot details are my property. No copyright infringement intended.

Kendra watched Raxtus fly off to his hunt. She got up and laid the crushed four-leaf clover on the patio table. She then returned to the pool, jumped in and swam to her float.

Seth had just pulled himself out of the pool. She looked over at her brother and noticed that at 15 he was growing taller all the time. He had passed her by a year ago and was now almost as tall as their dad. He was still skinny though. She doubted Raxtus would have been able to carry them both had he been heavier.

Seth was sitting on the side of the pool, leaning back on his hands, and his feet idly kicking in the water. He was always thinking of some scheme or another, with school starting she assumed that he was trying to think of a way to do something else. He was staring straight ahead, his face vacant.

His expression changed and she wondered what he was thinking of now when the shadow of the hedge seemed to reach out for him. The shadow rapidly crawled along his arm turning his pink skin a shadowy gray. It moved up and along his arm across his chest and head and swiftly engulfed his entire body. His elongated afternoon shadow shrank, merging into one distorted shadowy figure. She could see through him now. He had faded into a shadow which melted into the hedge's shadow and Seth was gone. It happened so fast she could only watch in startled silence.

He had disappeared right in front of her. She sat up too fast and fell off the float into the water.

"Seth!" she screamed as she was finally able to react to what she had just watched.

"What?" he said irritated. "I didn't do anything!" he denied. Why is she yelling at me? She fell into the water. I didn't touch her.

He spoke as if nothing had happened and he was still just sitting there. He didn't reappear though.

She stood up wiping the water out of her eyes and stared at the place she had just seen and heard her brother. He was still there but she couldn't see him, the shaded water still swirled with the movement of his unseen legs.

"I thought you couldn't shade walk if someone was watching, that they would still see you," she asked, stunned. He wasn't shade walking, this was something new he was invisible.

"Yah, that's right I can't." he confirmed. His voice came from the place where he should be sitting.

"Well," she said hesitantly and swallowed nervously. "I can't see you and I know where you are. You just disappeared in front of me."

"You can't see me? But… you're staring right at me," he said, sounding excited.

"No! I can't see you. You and your shadow disappeared. It was like the hedge sucked you up into its shadow," she explained.

"Huh, I was just kind of daydreaming," Seth replied as he got up and walked around. He felt different, everything seemed amusing.

"Where did you go?" she demanded noticing that his voice was no longer coming from in front of her. There were no wet footprints to show that he had gotten out of the water but the water was no longer swirling.

"Come on Seth, I'm worried, I need to see you!" she yelled frantically, she was about to panic and was thinking about calling her parents.

"I'm walking down the hedge line in the shadows," he said casually. He watched as her head followed his voice but she couldn't see him. This is great, he thought. Now a big finish, "I'm here!" he yelled and suddenly jumped into the bright sunlight.

He appeared at the other end of the pool his long shadow flying out in front of him.

She sighed with relief, her brother was there. She could see him and his shadow again.

"I was worried that you were gone forever, that something awful ate you or something," she said exasperated.

"No such luck," he said sarcastically. She wishes, he thought as he walked back into the shadow of the hedge. The normal shadow of his upper body bobbed along the shadow of the hedge on the sidewalk and across the water. He remained visible as he walked back to sit where he had been before. He sat down and nothing unusual happened.

"How did you do that?" she asked as she joined him on the edge of the pool.

"Didn't know I did anything. I couldn't tell I was invisible except I felt a little different. My feet didn't hit the ground like normal when I walked and I couldn't see my own shadow like I just did but I could see myself though. That was strange," he smiled. He had been invisible. He was thrilled at the thought, but how? He was confused, how did he do it and not know he was doing it.

Kendra noticed the faraway look in his eyes. Off on another daydream, she shook her head. Any other boy would probably be dreaming of walking invisible through the girl's locker room. He was most likely walking through Fort Knox –with big pockets.

"No kidding, it was strange." She shuddered. Seth would like being invisible but what had just happened was scary and freaky.

That night when Seth went to bed he considered what had happened by the pool. He had disappeared while Kendra was watching and without even trying. He shouldn't have been able to do that. He was developing a new skill, one that he didn't fully control. It was frustrating and also frightening getting a new skill with no clue of what it was and how he had triggered it.

No one had described anything like this to him. There weren't any others but the two of them now, they were gone and their knowledge was gone too. It was difficult because there was no one to teach him and he wasn't going to ask the only other Shadow Charmer around as he was notably untrustworthy. The stories of what they could do were insufficient and based on eye witness accounts; some were pretty suspicious accounts at that.

Graulas, a demon, gave Nero, a troll, orders to teach Seth how to shade walk. One of the things he had learned from the troll was that each shadow charmer had a unique set of skills. Nero admitted that he had very limited knowledge of those skills. However, shadow charmers were usually evil people and they hadn't shared everything they could do even with each other.

He went over Kendra's description of what had happened when he disappeared. Though it seemed to her that the hedge reached out to him, it must have been something he did, he must have pulled the shadow to him and he disappeared into the shadow of the hedge. He had been daydreaming but not about anything specific, basically he had his mind clear as he had to do when he was lockpicking.

He thought he would try again the next afternoon and see if he could watch it happen. It was very weird to think about. He wondered what it had looked like from Kendra's point of view. The way she screamed at him it must have been 'scary movie' cool.

He fell asleep thinking about disappearing into a diamond mine and walking out unnoticed with pockets full of diamonds.

The next afternoon he sat at the edge of the pool just as he had before except that he was now facing the shadow of the hedge. He watched it slowly crawl toward him as the sun moved across the sky. His own shadow grew longer behind him.

He was excited but knew that he had to empty his mind if this was to work like before. He remembered back to what he was daydreaming about the other afternoon, vague thoughts of treasure hunting as usual. His mind was drifting now but he still could see the shadow approaching. He felt a slight tingle and a mild euphoria as the shadow fell on him. He looked down and could still see himself, his body was there, at least to him but his distorted shadow was moving toward the hedge's shadow. He had a slight perception that he had actually moved with his shadow and then there was nothing but him and the shadow of the hedge.

He stood but there was no shadow to show that he was standing. He walked but there was no sound of footfalls. When he tried to stomp there wasn't any feeling of his feet hitting the sidewalk. He marched up and down the hedge feeling the lack of sensation. He was recognizing how the overall experience made him feel, the tingle and mild euphoria were still there.

He had done it again. It was reproducible. He was slightly giddy, just on the verge of breaking out in silly giggles.

"Seth?" Kendra called. "Bracken and Raxtus will be here anytime now. Where are you?" Kendra appeared with a tray of snack food and drinks and sat it down on the patio table. She noticed the crushed four leaf clover still on the table.

"Over here," he called back from the far end of the pool, holding back the laughter that now threatened to burst from him.

"Playing in the hedge shadow again?" she asked as she got close to the pool and couldn't see him.

"Yup," he answered, chuckling.

"Where are you?" she asked again, turning slowly and listening for his answer.

"Over here," he said then ran silently toward her. He thought he would surprise her. She would think that he was still at the other end of the pool.

She walked to the side of the pool where the hedge shadow covered the sidewalk next to the water. She wanted to see if she could catch a glimpse of him as he popped back into view.

She stepped into the shadow of the hedge and he reached out to touch her.

With the touch of his hand on her arm, Seth's world spun violently and everything went dark. Suddenly something knocked the breath out of him and he felt nauseous like someone or something hit him hard in the stomach. He slammed into something soft but solid. Seth took a deep breath and screamed.

Kendra screamed in simultaneous reaction. She felt something warm and damp slap against her. She knew it was Seth; she felt him clinging to her but she couldn't see him or touch him.

"What did you do? Get off me. Where are you?" Kendra whirled around looking for him. She could feel him, sort of. She felt creepy like he was all over her back and breathing on her neck. She slapped her back but touched nothing. The creepy feeling spread as if warm slime was oozing down her arms and legs.

"What did _I _do? I didn't do anything. You did something, not me. What did _you_ do? Where am I?" Seth yelled at her, his stomach was still roiling, as if he was going to hurl. He felt her moving him around, but he couldn't see a thing. "Stop pulling on me and maybe I can figure this out."

He tried to move his own arms but if he had moved he couldn't feel it. The euphoria was gone; he definitely didn't feel like laughing now.

Kendra stopped spinning and looked down at her elongated shadow jutting from the hedge shadow because it looked funny. She screamed again and jumped. Her shadow wasn't hers, it looked like Seth. She looked at her hands and body, she was still herself but _her_ shadow was gone. The shadow that moved with her was definitely Seth's tall, skinny shorthaired shadow frighteningly mimicking her every move.

"Oh No, Seth! What have you done? You're my shadow? How did you do that? Where are you?" she yelled. "This isn't funny!"

"What? Huh?" Seth replied confused, she had stopped moving and his stomach started to settle.

"Who is doing all the screaming out here?" Bracken yelled from the far end of the garden. He was trying to be flippant but this wasn't Kendra's usual tone with Seth.

"Bracken! Here by the pool. Come quick," she answered loudly relieved he had arrived. She had been close to panicking. She felt relieved as he ran around the hedge followed closely by Raxtus that is until they stopped and stared at her.

Bracken's immediate shocked expression as he focused on her sent her into a full panic. He did not approach her nor did Raxtus. Kendra, now scared silent, pointed toward the shadows on the ground.

Bracken was stunned as he gazed where she pointed. He was stunned because not only the shadow on the ground was not hers but also where her body was in the light of the sun a halo surrounded her, a dark halo of shadow. Her usual bright fairy magic glow was gone.

"Whoa," Raxtus commented. He craned his neck forward for a closer look at her but he backed away shaking his head. "I have never seen anything like this."

"What?" Seth said. "I can't see a thing. What is going on?"

"Are you okay?" Bracken asked uncertain of what to do. He wanted to comfort her but he was afraid of what touching her might do.

"Yes." Kendra nodded but stared down at the shadow.

"Yes and no," Seth replied, his stomach still churned a bit.

"Seth?" Bracken asked as he looked at the shadow on the ground. She nodded and remained where she stood. Then she closed her eyes, it was too scary to look at for long. When she opened her eyes she stared straight at Bracken, her fear was obvious.

"What?" Seth answered, he felt his head move but not because he moved it.

"Can you move out of the shadow?" Bracken asked looking up at Kendra.

Seth struggled to move. "I can't move at all it seems," he answered.

"Which shadow, the one on the ground or the hedge?" Kendra asked unsure of what he was asking.

She was standing in the hedge's shadow with her feet about a foot from the edge of the shadow line. She didn't appear to know about the shadow wrapped around her like a blanket.

"Hey don't do anything yet," Seth yelled. "I want to figure this out before we undo everything."

"I guess we need to do this one thing at a time," Bracken sighed.

"Yeah, one thing at a time," he agreed, his stomach was beginning to settle down. He still couldn't see but at least he didn't want to heave up his breakfast any longer.

"Seth can you hear us?" Bracken asked loudly.

"Yes, I can hear you. You don't need to yell," he said sarcastically.

Kendra and Bracken looked at each other and frowned.

"If you can hear us we will try to figure out a way to separate the two of you," Bracken said in a normal tone.

"I can hear you!" he yelled as loudly as he could, he got no reply. "But you can't hear me," he whispered dejectedly.

What was he going to do?

Nothing he admitted to himself. He was blind and mute and apparently stuck where he was. The only thing he could do at the moment was to listen to what they were doing.

He realized that she had nothing to do with creating the awkward situation. He probably did this by reaching out of the shadow to touch her. His touch could affect her, just as his touch had the ability to alleviate magical fear, so maybe this was similar. But how was he going to jump back into the light? He couldn't move.

"Okay, Kendra, move out of the shadow of the hedge," Bracken said calmly, though he didn't feel calm. He was freaking out but he didn't want to freak her out.

Like Raxtus, he had never seen anything like this before and he had been around a long time. The handsome young man was in reality an ageless unicorn. He had selflessly sacrificed his adult horn and without it, he lost both the ability to return to his true unicorn shape and a considerable portion of his healing abilities. He had willingly resigned himself to spend the rest of his days uncomfortably as a human. When Kendra had fallen in love with him and remarkably (to them both) he had fallen in love with her, his outlook on life as a human had improved substantially. The present situation was very unsettling he didn't like seeing her in danger.

"That should do it! Get us into the sunlight," Seth said, hopefully.

She did what he asked and the shadow remained around her and Seth's disturbing elongated shadow remained her shadow.

"Well, that didn't work," Bracken said glumly. "How about this, you go all the way into the shadow," he suggested.

She turned, walked back and when she was fully into the shadow, he noticed that she looked normal. The shadow enveloping her was not noticeable at all but after waiting for a minute Seth didn't emerge either.

Seth felt movement then stillness. He waited and waited but nothing happened, no one spoke. He worried what were they doing now?

"This probably won't help but let's find out if Seth's shadewalking will work for you. Come out here then when I look away go back into the shadow," Bracken said, his curiosity was triggered by the vanishing shadow and the fact that she didn't seem distressed or in any real danger. Seth's condition on the other hand was unknown.

"That's an interesting idea," Seth said intrigued.

Kendra did as he suggested. In the sunlight she did not look down at her shadow as it appeared on the ground in front of her, it was too frightening. When Bracken and Raxtus turned away, she walked back into the shadow of the tall hedge.

"Ok," she whispered.

They turned back to the hedge and could not see her.

"Well, that worked. I can't see you at all," Bracken said looking up at Raxtus.

"Me neither," Raxtus shook his head.

Kendra looked down at herself, she was there but they couldn't see her. She walked around in the shadows and felt normal, she didn't feel any different. She walked to the end of the hedge in the shadow.

"Where are you?" he asked.

"Yes!" Seth hollered. They can't see her. Now if I can figure out how it works and how get out of this mess I'll have another cool skill. I have the ability to share shadewalking.

"Kendra?" Bracken called.

Kendra walked out of the shadow. Neither Bracken nor Raxtus focused on her so she kept walking toward Bracken, two, then three, four, five steps into the bright sunlight.

Seth could feel movement, could hear Bracken. It hadn't taken her this long to walk into the shadow so it shouldn't be that far to walk out of the shadow. She was still moving. What was going on? It was driving him crazy not knowing what was happening.

"Kendra where are you?" Bracken was beginning to get worried.

"Here," she said waving her arms and taking a final step right in front of him. She didn't like the fearful look creeping into his eyes.

Bracken was startled when he finally saw her just before she walked right into him. Raxtus flinched when she appeared a foot from Bracken.

She flinched too. She was really afraid now.

"Wow, I didn't see you until you were only a step away. That's really impressive, in the full sunlight, that's more than shade walking. Seth has developed some new skill I've never heard of," he said keeping his voice happy because her face was showing signs of her growing fear.

"Okay, Seth if you can hear us, it's up to you now. Come on out," Bracken called. _Please_, he begged silently his anxiety was also growing.

Bracken and Kendra stood about a foot apart. He could get a better look at the shadow surrounding her; it damped her fairy light totally. He noticed that was concentrated on her back and it fluctuated from two to four inches out from her body.

They stared at each other expectantly. Then they both looked down at Seth's long shadow beside his. They waited.

Okay, Seth thought, it's my turn now. She couldn't shake him off easily which was good to know but bad for him at the moment. He had decided to jump into the light since that is what he did yesterday to appear out of the hedge. The only problem was where was the light? He couldn't see a thing.

"Bracken just said Kendra was standing next to him in the bright sunlight. So if I jump anywhere I will jump into the light," he said out loud to give it weight, meaning and purpose.

"Here goes!" he yelled. Nothing happened. He thought he'd jumped but nothing happened. He tried again.

"I guess he can't hear us," Bracken said, not wanting to think that it was something more disturbing.

"What else can we try?" Kendra started to cry.

"I don't know, yet. Don't cry," Bracken said, agonizing over her fear. Still afraid to touch her he reached out toward her, she moved toward him and her hand lightly touched his arm. Fairy light flashed through the shadow, she glowed with magic again.

They rocked off balance and she fell into his arms. The dark gray shadow on the ground was suddenly and rapidly expanding beneath them. The grass disappeared as the shadow became opaque. Bracken jumped and twisted pulling Kendra away from where she was standing.

"Wow," Raxtus commented as Kendra's light flared. She looked like herself again.

Kendra's own elongated shadow reappeared at her feet, suddenly jutting across the lawn. Seth materialized in all three dimensions and in his normal color lying on the ground.

"Seth!" Kendra and Raxtus happily exclaimed simultaneously.

"Seth?" Bracken queried unsure if it was truly Seth. A long time ago Bracken had learned the hard way never to take Shadow Charmer events lightly or at face value. He walked back to where Seth sat on the ground.

"I don't think I'll try that again," Seth breathed and sat up, he was nauseous again but didn't think he would be sick. He covered his face with his hands blocking the blindingly bright sunlight. He had gotten use to the darkest dark.

Bracken knelt next to the boy and looked closely at him. He looked all right but that wasn't enough. He gripped one of the hands that covered Seth's face.

"How did you do that?" Bracken asked concerned. He wanted to verify that it was really him and make sure he was healthy. Bracken smiled as his touch confirmed both.

"I don't know for sure how any of it happened. But I think I know what not to do," Seth said still sitting on the ground blinking in the bright sunlight.

Kendra noticed Bracken grip Seth's hand before he asked his question, another of his many talents, a human lie detector. He stood up and nodded at the questioning look she forced onto her face. She sighed with relief and walked up to him.

Bracken put his arm around her, but he already knew Kendra was okay.

"I know I didn't do anything to free myself. How did you get me loose?" Seth asked. Using both his hands to shade his eyes he tried to look up at them.

Bracken and Kendra looked at one another and shrugged.

"I don't know," they said the same time.

"Yah, I don't think I'll try that again," Seth stated. Wincing at the bright light he covered his face again.

Bracken helped Seth up and led him to a chair in the shade. He and Kendra sat with him at the covered table.

"It looked cool," Raxtus said excitedly as his neck snaked around allowing his head to follow them to the patio.

"It didn't feel that way," Kendra said and shivered.

"I agree. I was blind and no one could hear me, though I could hear you. I couldn't even feel my own body. It was as if I was a puppet. I moved when Kendra did. Not fun, especially if you don't know how to make it stop," Seth complained into his hands still covering his face. "No, I won't try that again."

"Are we still having a party?" Raxtus asked innocently.

"Of course," Seth replied through his hands. "I need to celebrate my freedom."

"Mine too," Kendra added. "Seth that was very scary. If you know what you did, please don't ever do that again."

Bracken reached out and took her hand, grateful that whatever they had done fixed the problem. Sitting under the umbrella both Bracken and Raxtus could see her bright fairy glow and were reassured she was back to normal.

Bracken saw the four leaf clover on the table. Wanting to change the subject he picked up and held the clover. "Who got to make a wish?" he asked looking around. Raxtus looked away guiltily but Kendra spoke up.

"I did," Kendra answered and kissed him.

"Did you get your wish?" he asked with a chuckle.

"I did," she confirmed with a big smile. "Let's get this party going."

Bracken heard Raxtus sigh, he looked up at the grinning dragon.

Raxtus was glad she got her wish.


	3. Treasure Hunt

Treasure Hunt

Based on characters from Fablehaven© by Brandon Mull. The original characters and plot details are my property. No copyright infringement intended.

The next summer after Seth turned sixteen, he was constantly going on treasure hunts using his Shadow skills. His reputation of being able to unlock almost any lock spread fast so as he got older he was getting more and more 'work'. He had even learned how to open some spell held locks if, that is, they were done by a magician or an inexperienced or poor wizard. Expertly done lock spells were still beyond him.

Along with the sanctuary sponsored hunts, the people within the sanctuary system knew of his talents and they and their relatives sometimes called him for help. Occasionally his other talent of speaking to ghosts and getting them to do what he wanted gained him work. Speaking to ghosts had its benefits but breaking into things was the real money maker.

His clues were few but Bracken had told him that Shadow Charmers used their minds to disengage locks. So when he first learned he had the mental capability to break into locks it became his main focus. Since he loved getting into things he wasn't supposed to get into he set about learning how to do it. He learned that it wasn't as easy as it looked and as with everything to do with his Shadow skills, it had a price.

One morning, two years earlier, he sat on the floor of his attic room with an old padlock from his school locker in his hand. He had forgotten the combination and couldn't use it any more. He was unsure why he had kept it. He looked at it, hefted it and looked at it again. He sat there staring at it long enough that his mind went blank as he gazed at the lock. Slowly the mechanism appeared as a puzzle in his mind. He could slip in and out of the recesses that he pictured. He figured out the puzzle and manipulated the moveable parts and when he heard an audible click, he snapped back suddenly aware of his surroundings.

"Whoa, that was cool," he said out loud to himself. He looked at the padlock, it sat unlatched in his hand.

"Seth it's time for lunch," his mother called from the stairway.

He looked up at the clock. He had been sitting there for three hours. He started to get up and found he was weak, sweaty and his legs were asleep.

"I'll need practice doing this but now that I've done it once it should be easier," he told himself as he eased himself up from the floor his legs tingling as the blood rushed back into them.

"Ouch! Crud!" he cried and stood still as the painful pins and needles part of re-awakening legs hit him.

After eating a huge lunch, he tried again and opened the same padlock in less than a minute. His third try on the same lock he opened it almost instantly.

He was disappointed when later that afternoon he tried to open a keyed padlock that had been sitting in the kitchen junk drawer. He looked up when the lock sat unlatched in his hand and saw that almost two hours had passed. He was disillusioned. It took him almost as long to open it as the first lock. He was happy he was lying on his bed this time so his legs hadn't fallen asleep. He tried again and he was able to open it almost instantly. That evening he was again very hungry and ate a huge supper.

The next morning, he gathered up several padlocks, combination and keyed, that were stored in the pantry. He concealed them in his pockets. He told his mother that he was studying and didn't want to be disturbed until lunch. She looked at him suspiciously; at fourteen he usually didn't volunteer to study.

"Shadow stuff," he said innocently, knowing that it would keep her away from his room. He didn't want her to know he was learning how to break into things so he didn't want her sneaking in to see what he was doing. This was a shadow skill but not what she was thinking which suited him just fine.

"Oh right," she nodded that made more sense. She didn't like what he could do but she understood that it was something he needed to study and control. It was a dangerous talent and he needed to develop his skills. She was more comfortable with him studying protected in his securely warded room.

He was ready for a marathon of lock picking when he took the five locks into his room and closed the door.

He held the first padlock in his hand and cleared his mind. The lock's combination was so blatantly clear that he popped it open instantly. The next one was the same. He found that these new locks were so similar to the others he had opened he was done with each one in seconds. He was pleased that he had the technique down.

Now that he had with nothing to do his big mouth had basically exiled himself to his room for four hours, he sat on his bed trying to figure out what he would do now. He looked around the room for something else to unlock and saw the rocking horse shoved against the far wall. It had a small lock on it. Then he remembered the locked jewelry box on the bookshelf and the lock on the bedroom door. These had different locking mechanisms than the padlocks.

"I guess since there is nothing else to do," he sighed. He got up and sat next to the rocking horse. A few minutes later the little hatch in the belly of the horse popped open. It was still empty. He clicked the hatch closed and by design, it relocked.

He wondered if he could relock the ones that didn't automatically re-latch like the padlocks and the rocking horse and sat on the floor in front of his bedroom door.

He stared at the lock, cleared his mind and slowly the puzzle appeared there. It was a very different sort of puzzle and intrigued Seth with its complexity.

The trouble with this puzzle was there were multiple ways the pieces could move around where with the other locks there was only one. He struggled with the concept, was he going to grab, push or pull the pieces? He realized that the puzzle pieces he had pictured were the actual lock pins.

Once he discovered the way to move them where did they need to go? His manipulations revealed a faint telltale sign that let him know where the open position was for each pin and he finally was able to open and close the lock.

He was excited that he could lock or unlock the door. Now he could unlock something and lock it back, hopefully undetected. He was happily moving the pins around when he heard his name. Suddenly yanked back to the physical world he was sitting on the floor staring at the door and the door knob was shaking violently.

"Seth, unlock this door! I've been calling you for ten minutes, it's time for lunch," his mother yelled, irritated.

"Okay," he answered and the door went silent.

He closed his eyes saw the pin that was in the wrong position and unlocked the door. He stood up wobbly relieved his legs hadn't gone to sleep from sitting still for almost four hours. He sighed, but sweat covered his entire body saturating his clothes. He wiped sweat from his face with his wet shirt sleeve.

"Sorry mom, I was really concentrating," he apologized as he opened the door. He ran his fingers through his wet hair. He felt like he had taken a shower in his clothes.

"What are you doing in there?" she asked looking around the room.

"You don't want to know," he said mysteriously, knowing she didn't like him to talk about what he did.

"You are probably right. Come on down and eat," she said and walked away. She hadn't notice that he was standing there drenched in sweat.

"I'll be right down," he said. He knew he couldn't go down like he was. His hair was actually dripping wet. He quickly grabbed a change of clothes and rushed down the stairs to the bathroom. He shoved his wet clothes into the hamper and rubbed a towel over his still damp body before he changed clothes.

At lunch, he ate like a starving man and he was so thirsty he drained his glass twice and still asked for more water. He had no idea he had used up so much energy. The use of his skill had an effect on his body he hadn't expected.

The next time he tried a door lock it was much easier. He began trying his skill in various places and was pleased with his success. After practicing a while he was able to open a lock from another room – if he knew exactly where the lock was. He also noticed that he tended to feel hungrier and thirstier after each use of his skill.

Now, two years later, he used his skill with confidence and less energy. Still he always carried protein bars and lots of water with him to replace the energy it took.

He normally cleared the non-Sanctuary 'jobs' with his dad and grandfather to make sure it was a legitimate 'treasure hunt' not a theft. He would retrieve the item or items, deliver them to his client and claim any other treasure or collect the reward. He shared the proceeds with his sometime partners, the satyrs' Newel and Doren. He made a pretty good profit.

His biggest paydays were usually rewards for finding missing or stolen Sanctuary items and occasionally a magical individual.

He surprised his mother when he stashed some of the cash away in a bank account. He did spend some though. He bought a big pickup truck with room for his partners Newel and Doren inside the cab. They, on the other hand, spent their earnings on a larger big screen TV, a solar powered refrigerator and cases of snacks.

He could now drive himself around the country in style. He looked rather ridiculous running around with two goats, which is what Doren and Newel looked like to normal humans. Seth was very self-assured and never let it bother him though. He barely noticed the strange stares and shaking heads as he continually talked to his 'goats' like they were human. No one really noticed that the baaing was the 'goats' actually answering back.

Doren and Newel enjoyed their occasional treasure hunts with Seth, when they weren't dangerous, of course. They were notorious cowards and extremely lazy. At first Seth could get them to do pretty much anything for Ding Dongs and Doritos.

They had finally gotten over their initial idea of living off the preserve when they understood that many people ate goats… regularly. They realized they ran a real risk of being someone's lunch.

Now that they had their own money and could buy all the snacks they wanted, they passed on more and more hunts and Seth found himself alone. He complained to Kendra, Raxtus and Bracken that he needed a reliable partner.

Occasionally Seth would discover small stashes of scrolls, books and/or magic items along with his treasure. Seth brought all such information and artifacts home or got someone to come out and gather it if he thought it was really dangerous. Wiser people needed to go through the really scary stuff. But he only ran into scary magical stuff a few times and by watching them, he learned how to handle magical items safely.

In mid-winter, Seth received a strange commission for a treasure hunt. It was quite an interesting proposition. All of the non-magical treasure, gems, gold and silver he had to give to his client but not the magical items. All magical items, even if gold and jewel encrusted, were Seth's to keep. He was very curious about what he would find, if anything.

He accepted the commission with the stipulation that he couldn't go until March. He had to abide by the school calendar even though he thought it was silly, since he was home schooled. He had to wait until Spring break to go on the hunt. They accepted his offer and sent him the map to the New Mexico desert sight. Stan and Seth's dad Scott approved the desert treasure hunt.

When the day arrived for him to travel south for the exploration, Doren and Newel declined the job. They weren't interested in going to New Mexico with him. They said the arid air dried out their hooves. They had just had another one of their arguments so Seth thought it was the three days stuck in the truck cab with each other that was the problem. But it could have just as easily been the Gilligan's Island marathon they were watching. Either way he was on his own – again.

His drive to New Mexico was uneventful. Because he didn't have to deal with finding accommodations that would accept two pet 'goats' his normal choice of motels was widely expanded to include hotels. He enjoyed his evenings with good meals and a cleaner room with a view.

The third evening he filled his cooler with ice and food and bought ten gallons of water preparing for the next day when he expected to arrive at his destination.

Early the next morning he arrived at the dirt track shown on the map and turned onto it. He opened the rickety barbed-wire fence gate and drove through. The map's instructions read that he didn't have to reclose the gate until he had completed his time at the location.

Setting his odometer to travel exactly ten miles, he followed the eroded trail into a rocky barren area before heading due west into the desert. In the distance he saw a looming mesa. As he neared the cliff face, it looked dark and unwelcoming. He could feel the fear and dread long before he reached the cliff face. Although the fear didn't affect him he knew the effects were there. The dreadful emanations were strong enough to run all creatures away there was no wildlife nearby.

He brought his truck to a stop outside a deteriorating house made of wood and adobe built into the cliff wall. The locked front door held no challenge as he easily unlocked it with a quick thought. He pulled the door open and it almost fell off its own hinges. The wooden door had dry-rotted and was crumbling into sawdust.

He made his way through the maze of rooms through many locked doors. Following the direction toward the strongest emanations of fear he found a poorly hidden secret door, behind it he found a cave. No other human except a shadow charmer, even if they had a very potent bravery potion, could have made it this far. They would have collapsed in terror long before reaching the cave entrance. He could tell that it had gotten much worse as he ventured deeper into the house.


	4. Unexpected Find

Unexpected Find

Based on characters from Fablehaven© by Brandon Mull. The original characters and plot details are my property. No copyright infringement intended.

Once he was in the cave, he followed the map they sent him until he found the large cavern. He swept his light over the large cave room and was astonished. The pile of treasure and gold was staggering but most arresting of all was the skeleton of a huge dragon sprawled across the treasure. Its bones and faded scales littered the glittering floor. He stood on a ledge overlooking a dragon hoard, the first he had ever seen.

He spent the first day just rummaging through the treasure and artifacts wearing his enchanted gauntlets. If he touched anything magic, they vibrated but also protected him from any spell his touch might release. When he found something that he classified as 'his' he moved it aside.

Seth was an honest treasure hunter but not because he wanted to be. Certainly he was coveting some of the magnificent gems and outrageously beautiful gold jewelry but he was dealing with dangerous individuals. They doubtlessly would know if he had taken something he shouldn't. The consequences would probably be fatal or worse, so it didn't pay to cheat. What he had already set aside for himself looked pretty impressive so he didn't feel slighted on the receiving end.

He spent the night curled up in a sleeping bag next to the opening to the treasure room. He could have gone back to town and slept in a nice comfortable bed but the allure of the treasure was too much and he feared someone would get it. Although he knew the fear aura would keep anyone out, he still decided to stay thinking he would get an early start on the next morning.

It took him three days to sort the treasure. He wondered how much of it he could get into his pickup at a time. The gold was heavy. It would take him many trips to get it all to the client.

His pile was small in comparison but it also included the skeleton of the dragon. The skull alone was worth millions in the sanctuary network. He wondered who the dragon had been, how it had died and how long it had been dead.

The morning of the fourth day he ate the last of his food. He needed to contact his client so he drove back into town. His client was thrilled at his success. They informed him there was an armored truck leased in his name back in town. He would need the truck to transport the 'product' safely to them. They gave him a delivery address across the state line in Arizona.

The rental agent didn't even ask to see his driver's license, handed him the keys and told him the tank was full of gas. Seth didn't know that they made armored trucks so large. He had never driven a big truck but found it easy to handle.

He drove out of town with food for several days and two ten gallon jugs of water in the cab of the truck. He turned off the main highway to the lesser traveled road and soon realized that two pickup trucks filled with rough looking men followed him down the caliche road.

He was worried for about two seconds when he realized where he was going and what awaited the men who tried to follow. He started laughing as he turned on the dirt track. Ten miles into the desert, he turned due west.

The two pickups followed his westward turn off the track. Seth watched through his right side mirror as a man jumped from the front pickup truck. Rolling in the sand, bouncing off of a cactus, he scrambled up and started running back the other way.

Shortly the lead truck screeched to a halt and the following truck crashed into it pushing it forward. The driver lost his footing on the brake and the truck idled slowly forward until it came to a stop against a large rock. The truck had moved so far into the aura of dread and fear that terror paralyzed the four remaining men.

Seth stopped the truck and watched through his left side mirror laughing as the angry driver of the following truck wrestled with his air bag and got out of the truck but as he took a few steps toward the leading truck his eyes got wide and he screamed. He turned and ran due east. The passengers of the second truck watched as their driver ran away. They got out of the truck confused and walked toward the other truck. Seth watched as fear overwhelmed them their faces contorted terror. They panicked, turned and ran following their driver due east as fast as they could.

Still laughing, Seth started the truck moving again. He drove the last miles to the mesa. He opened the rear door of the truck and saw that it held a cargo of empty medium size heavy-duty plastic crates and a large hydraulic moving dolly. This would make moving the treasure much easier. He was grateful that it was early spring and that the cave was cool inside. The air outside the cave was hot and dry. He unloaded the first empty crate and even with the dolly it was hot hard work.

It was getting so hot he realized that the paralyzed men could die of heat stroke in their truck if he didn't do something to help them. Seth actually felt sorry for the poor jerks that had tried to hijack him so he drove the armored truck back to the pickups.

The men were so still he opened the door of the truck to check on them. The smell of urine was intense as the overheated air escaped. Their eyes were wide and they quivered in their seatbelts but they didn't appear to know he was there. He thought the fear must be awful for these poor jerks. He saw a gun in the waist band of one of the men so he searched the others. He found five guns on the four men.

He went to the other truck and found one more gun in the dashboard. The men in that truck must have run off with their guns. Seth was now worried that they could come back and shoot at him.

He was glad he had the armored truck. He took all the guns. Once back in the truck he put them on the passenger seat. Slowly he pushed the pickup truck backward and watched as the paralyzed men started to move in their seats. He continued to push the truck but stopped when they started unbuckling their seatbelts. As soon as they could they bailed out of the truck and started running due east, some of them screaming.

Seth laughed as he returned to the mesa, even though he felt a little sorry for them. It was chafing to run in wet jeans, they were going to be sorry for a long time that they ever followed this armored truck. They could run for miles before they had a self-possessed state of mind to stop. It would take a while for fear this powerful to leave them.

Seth took his time filling the crates with the treasure. He found a shovel in the house and actually used it to fill the crates. The treasure didn't care and he couldn't do much more damage to it. The weight of the dragon laying on it had smashed much of the gold into larger solid chunks anyway. At the end of the day the truck was only a quarter full but he was satisfied with his progress.

That evening before he went to sleep he took the guns deeper into the cave and threw them into a hole. The long silence followed by a splash was reassuring.

It took two more long hard days to fill up the truck. On his way out of the desert he pushed the pickups off the trail, if someone came looking they wouldn't see them unless they got right on top of them.

He was glad that bullets did not hit the truck on his way through the desert to the highway.

He got on the highway headed for his client's address three hundred miles away when his cell phone rang. It was his mother.

"Hi mom, I can't talk. I'm on the road. I've only gotten part of the job done so it will take longer than I thought. I'm safe, so don't worry. I'll be home soon." Seth rushed through the words.

"Seth, you should be on your way..." she started to fuss at him in her angry voice.

"I have to finish this. I'll get my school work done when I get home. I'll keep in touch," he interrupted her rant and hung up. He turned the phone off, he knew he would be in big trouble when he got home but he had to get the job done.

It took Seth the rest of the day to get to the client's drop off point in Arizona. Fortunately, they had a forklift that quickly emptied the truck and refilled it with more of the plastic crates.

He returned to the cave early the next morning. Still afraid of the possibility of the men returning with long range weapons, he backed the armored truck up to the door of the house. It took two more trips filling the truck each time to deliver all the treasure to his client. Each time he left for Arizona he turned on his phone and sent a text message to his mother letting her know that he was safe and not to worry he would be home soon. He refused to look at the number of missed calls or unread messages in his inbox blinking on the screen. He turned the phone off as soon as he finished sending the text.

On the final trip to Arizona, the client's agent was satisfied with his statement that they had received all of the treasure. They graciously filled the truck with additional crates for his share of the treasure and gave him an extra large crate instead of medium ones and a few smaller ones.

Seth packed the magical items and artifacts carefully, which made the process take even longer than packing the treasure.

He carefully packed the dragon bones and scales. He was surprised at how the huge dragon skull separated along the bone seams and also how light was. He had been afraid that he wouldn't be able to move the imposingly large multi-horned razor-toothed skull. He thought that maybe he could get in good with Raxtus' father if he just gave him the bones. You never knew when having a good relationship with a fearsome dragon might come in handy. Especially since he was the nearest thing to a king the dragons had. Raxtus was his friend but he wasn't even close to being a fearsome dragon.

The previously unknown cave was open to discovery now. When hikers found the cave behind the house and he knew they eventually would, there would be no clues that a dragon or anyone had ever been there.

He had carefully packed the artifacts that maintained the powerful fear and dread. Together they created a spell more potent than dragonfear. As soon as he separated the two items, he noticed the effect was gone. He packed them separately and marked them as extremely dangerous.

It was twilight once he reached the highway. It was his last trip in and out and he remembered he had to re-latch the gate. No courtesy light came on in the truck when he opened the door and hopped out. He closed the door and looked around.

Cars flashed by him on the highway too fast to be a threat. Still guarded against the gun toting hi-jackers, he shade walked to the barbed-wire gate. To his relief the flash of headlights from an occasional passing vehicle did not reveal his shadow on the ground. This far from the roadway and this time of night he was in complete shade walking.

He found the slack wire gate, tugged it into place and latched it closed.

As he walked back to the cab of the still running truck a pickup skidded to a stop blocking the dirt roadway in front of the armored truck. Five men jumped out with guns drawn pointed at the cab of the truck.

Seth slowly backed into the deeper shadow of the mesquite tree lined fence and watched. He wasn't afraid of the men with the guns. He didn't know fear or react to it anymore but he wasn't stupid. He knew it was a dangerous situation and he was cautious. What would they do if they found no one in the truck? He couldn't let them drive off with it.

The men surrounded the truck, swinging their guns around like TV cops. He half expected them to yell out 'clear' when they didn't find him.

"He's not out here, but the gate's closed," one yelled from the gate. He was only about five feet from where Seth stood, invisible in the shadows.

"He's not over here," another yelled from the far side of the truck.

Seth recognized the truck rental agent as he and two others passed in front of the pickups headlights converging on the dark cab of the truck. They held their guns on the door as he pulled it open.

"I'll shoot you if you jump out at me. Come out slowly," he said nervously, his voice was trembling. He was holding a gun but he was shaking.

The man on the far side of the truck opened the other door. "Come on out, you little freak," he yelled uneasily. "Get out of there."

Seth noticed they were all shaking. They still hadn't gotten completely over their fear. It had been a very powerful spell. They were either really greedy jerks to come back after him as scared as they were or they knew something of his mission and they desperately wanted what he had.

Just a tiny bit more fear and they wouldn't be able to do much of anything, he thought. Mostly they wouldn't be able to shoot me or take my truck.

He closed his eyes and pushed out a wave of revenant style fear. The clatter of guns falling to the caliche covered ground made Seth open his eyes and watch as the men threw up their arms over their faces, fending off the horrible hallucinations their minds were creating in reaction to the fear. They backed away from the truck, yelling at whatever was frightening them.

Seth almost laughed out loud, as the man nearest him yelled, "No, Mama, No" and backed into the barb-wire fence. He screamed as the barbs bit into his skin but he did not attempt to move away, the fearful unseen image completely dominated him.

Seth move stealthily to the pickup and crouched down as the light flashed on when he opened the door. He didn't want the light to expose him. The men were probably too involved with their own hallucinations to notice but he didn't want to take a chance. He killed the lights, shoved the gear shift into neutral and grunted as he pushed their truck into the ditch.

He pushed the guns they had dropped next to the truck into the ditch with his foot. Then with a good swift kick, he sent each one flying into the culvert under the roadway. He heard them tumble along the dirty concrete, far under the road. He hoped that if they saw the guns were missing they wouldn't even look for them.

He jumped back into the cab of the armored truck noticing the men were all cowering in various positions along the ditch. He drove down the road a mile, stopped on the shoulder and turned on his phone. He sent a text to his mother that he was heading home and should be there in three days. He also made a call to the highway patrol and told them he saw a truck in a ditch they should check on. He gave them the highway mile marker number and hung up. Immediately his phone flashed with an incoming call. Without looking at the number, he turned it off again.

When he arrived at the rental agency to drop off the armored truck, Kendra and Bracken were there waiting for him. Though Seth was happy to see them, he also knew what it meant, his mother was very mad. They came to get him to pacify her before she did something drastic.

"Hi Kendra, Bracken. What brings you here? As if I didn't know," he said sarcastically as he jumped out of the big truck.

"Seth, you are in so much trouble," Kendra said walking up to him shaking her head. Seth thought she looked tired and definitely unhappy.

"Hi Seth," Bracken said with a smirk leaning on the door of Kendra's car. Standing under the bright lights of the parking lot Bracken's pale skin and white blonde hair seemed to glow.

"Doh! Really? I never would have guessed. Are you alone or just the advance guard?" he snapped back at her but he waved at Bracken.

"We are here to make you come home," Kendra told him with a sigh.

"How did you find me?" he asked, interested. They would have known what city he was in and his hotel but not the truck rental location. He hadn't even known about this place.

"Your truck's anti-theft tracker," Kendra said smugly.

"I forgot my truck had a tracker on it," Seth shrugged. "But I was coming home. I just sent a text to Mom," he said defending himself.

"Yeah, she called me about it. Why did you turn off your phone?" Kendra asked exasperated.

"You know why! I had a job to do and it took longer than it should have but she would have bugged me to death and it would have taken even longer," Seth retorted. "I texted her every other day. She knew I was okay. I'll make up the school work. What's the big deal?" Mom got worked up over the stupidest things, he shook his head.

Seth was through talking about it, Kendra could see it in his face. He was ignoring her and focusing on Bracken. He had something exciting to tell someone and she wasn't 'the someone' he wanted to tell.

Seth walked over to Bracken and Kendra followed.

"Bracken, you should have seen what I found. It was fantastic," Seth whispered. "A huge dragon hoard!"

"Really?" Bracken said shocked, that was a dangerous place to be. "Where was the dragon?"

"Dead, just a skeleton on the piles and piles of treasure," Seth said with a nod and raised eyebrows. "Got the skeleton and scales in the truck," he admitted proudly with a big smile.

Bracken immediately began to think of what dragons were missing and couldn't think of any. He was woefully out of touch. Now his focus was elsewhere and long missing dragons just weren't as important to him as they used to be.

A bell rang and they looked toward the sound. A rental agent came through the door of the building headed toward them with a flashlight and a clipboard.

"I guess I need to take care of this and I have to unload some crates into my truck," Seth said. "I've got cool stuff, our grandparents will be impressed," Seth reassured them with a smile. He turned and walked toward the agent who had just reached the truck.

They transferred the large crate (the dragon skull, horns and bones), two medium crates and four small crates into his pickup bed. When that was loaded, he crammed the last two small crates in the back seat of the truck. He stuffed the ice chest and sleeping bag in the passenger seat and his dirty clothes in the floorboard.

He was glad that Doren and Newel hadn't come. They wouldn't have been any use because of the fear spell. He would have had to leave them in town. It would have cost him a fortune in hotel charges and the snack bill – well, he didn't want to think about that. He was glad it didn't happen.

When he asked the woman behind the desk about the rental agent who gave him the keys to the truck him she said he had disappeared. The police were trying to find him and several of his friends. Seth chuckled to himself, they would find them soon enough.

Reluctantly he turned on his cell phone and called his mother. The call wasn't as bad as he thought it would be. He knew she was waiting to get him in person before tearing into him.

When they got home, all the crates were unloaded into the storage area. Grandma Ruth was the first to go over the mass of items he brought back from his trip. She was amazed that there were so many items made either from dragon bones or in the shape of dragons. Even wearing the protective gauntlets, she could feel each item vibrating with its own magical quality.

Seth's parents grounded him for the rest of the school year and half the summer. The fact that they grounded him for only half the summer was because Ruth told his parents that he had found some amazing items. Seth also had to give up the dragon bones to the dragons. They forbid him to take on any jobs that weren't Sanctuary related for the rest of the year. Additionally, Agad needed to assure them that he was the only person who could do the job.

After all that the drama wasn't over and done, Seth dreaded the overload of school work his mother dumped on his table. She was mad and gave him extra work to do.

Following a quick survey of Seth's 'reward', Ruth and Stan were unsure of the true significance of his discovery. They called Agad the new head of the sanctuary network. Once upon a time, he was a dragon now he was a wizard. Ruth was hoping with his background that he would know what to do with all of the magical dragon artifacts. She was afraid that some of them might injure or kill someone.

Agad arrived with no expectations but all of the items were a shock to him. Some of the magical artifacts had been stolen and missing for centuries, the rest were unknown and would take careful study to figure out what they were.

The unique head spikes confirmed the identity of dead dragon. He was a renegade dragon that refused to live in a sanctuary. No one had seen him in many centuries. The black scorching on some of the scales meant that another dragon wounded him in battle. He must have died after returning to his lair. Another dragon would have claimed both the cave and the hoard if it had known of its whereabouts.

How Seth's clients found about it was a mystery. A few quick calls discovered that the phone numbers they had given Seth were no longer valid and the warehouse where he delivered the treasure was empty with no clue to the former occupants. Agad was not concerned though it was not a mystery. It was a way of doing business, dragon business in the human world.

He decided to take the most intriguing artifacts to Wyrmroost. Their apparent but unknown magical qualities fed Agad's wizardly curiosity. Raxtus and Seth were in the garden playing an outlandish version of soccer when he asked Raxtus to fly the more delicate artifacts to Wyrmroost. The other's he packed for the long trip by vehicle.

Seth was happy to find out that there was reward money connected to most of what he found. The monetary rewards for the return of known items had made his head swim. Now he felt rich and more money would be coming. The Dragon sanctuaries would compensate Seth properly when the uses and values of the unknown items were established.

Once in Wyrmroost, Raxtus watched Agad go through the unknown items to see what they were. Being a small dragon, he could enter the rooms where the wizard was studying the artifacts. Raxtus was curious, never having seen magical dragon artifacts before. He had treasure in his secret hoard but nothing magical.

During Agad's initial search, he found a secret compartment in one item that contained the scroll. Agad was afraid he would damage the tightly rolled scroll if he tried to pull it from its hiding spot. A probe or tweezers would tear it and magic would not work. So he was reluctant to remove it.

Raxtus realized his avatar was tiny enough to get his fingers into the case and ease the scroll out. He wanted to help so he swallowed his pride and invoked his avatar.

Agad had the good manners not to comment on the appearance of Raxtus' avatar. He was shocked, he knew the little dragon was extraordinary but until now he had no idea how strange he was.

Raxtus removed the scroll and unrolled the vellum. As he read the description of what the spell did he was immediately excited. The scroll held a description and instructions for a ritual device and an incantation that would dispel a dragon's avatar and leave the dragon ready to invoke a different avatar. Raxtus lay the scroll on the table and reverted back into his dragon form. He couldn't believe what the scroll said, a new avatar. Get rid of his old avatar and get a new one.

When Agad read the description, he was appalled, of course. Raxtus had to stop him from destroying it and made him take it to his father, Celebrant the Just.

Celebrant was the highest ranking dragon. Neither he nor Agad wanted anything to do with the scroll. Actually, they both wanted the thing destroyed. Thinking, rightly so, that messing with a dragon's avatar wasn't something they wanted anyone to be capable of doing. Why someone had written the spell in the first place was a mystery to them.

The few Wizards left were dragons who had given up their dragon shape permanently for their human form, making them very powerful sorcerers. Agad knew they also would want the scroll destroyed.

But Raxtus was different. He told his father he found the idea intriguing and wanted to pursue the possibility of using it on himself. Where most dragons in their natural form were fearsome creatures, he was the Fairy dragon, a dragon in miniature, a joke. That was bad enough but he felt his avatar was a horrible mistake. He indeed wanted to meddle with his avatar; to change it completely. His avatar, like his small size was a result of fairies infusing his entire body with their magic before he hatched and a total embarrassment for Raxtus. He only invoked his avatar in dire or extenuating circumstances and reverted back to his natural dragon state as soon as he could.

A very few knew what his avatar looked like. Working with Agad in his avatar form had been a duel edged experience. A nightmare of humiliation mixed with the thrill of finding something that could possibly relieve him of that humiliation.

The only reason Celebrant didn't have the scroll destroyed was because Raxtus was his son and he actually might be able to use the spell. They kept the scroll hidden and guarded until it could be determined whether it was even authentic. Only the three of them knew of its existence. There was dispute about the possibility even to construct the necessary ritual device described to invoke the spell. It seemed quite complex and required some very rare and unique components to make it work. Agad and Celebrant were hoping that the spell was worthless because of its complexity and antiquity.


	5. Which Magic

Which Magic

Based on characters from Fablehaven© by Brandon Mull. The original characters and plot details are my property. No copyright infringement intended.

Raxtus was very excited about the mysterious spell and the possibilities that it stirred in his imagination. His father had no idea if it would work.

He wanted to ask what Bracken thought about the spell. If anyone knew about the origins of the spell, it would be his friend Bracken or his mother, who happened to be the Fairy Queen.

Raxtus started his search for Bracken in the slippery narrow access between the Fairy Queen's Realm and the portals to her earthly shrines. He entered and listened. Sometimes he could hear others also traveling through the portals but he usually was going somewhere himself and didn't stay long in the access. His special ability to use the access to get to the different portals without going into the Fairy Queen's realm was unique to him. He had a suspicion that the Queen herself was responsible for teaching him about it when he was quite young but he couldn't remember. He was just happy to have the freedom it gave him; it had saved his little dragon butt a few times.

Bracken had been very busy lately and his current activities took him through the portal frequently. Raxtus was very lucky he only had to wait about an hour before he heard Bracken enter the portal from the Fairy realm headed for Fablehaven.

Wrapped in his usual cover of invisibility Raxtus followed him through the portal.

Bracken stood on the shore of the island and called for a boat. The water naiads tugged a boat from the boathouse across the lake and he stepped in. He rowed back to the boathouse across the lake unaware of his invisible stalker.

The portal entrance to Fablehaven was a small pool on an island in the middle of a small lake. Bracken had a way of exiting the pool without the added trouble of ridding himself of the water. Raxtus had no spell to keep him dry.

Bracken was already in the boat on his way across the lake and didn't see water inexplicably flying out of the pond. When Raxtus exited the portal he flew high and shook off the water clinging to his scales.

After Bracken crossed the lake and stepped off the wooden pier on to the gravel walkway, Raxtus suddenly appeared next to him. The little dragon was too excited and didn't think about warning him that he was there. Even as small (a relative term, like a private jet is small compared to a jumbo jet) and friendly as Raxtus was, it was shocking to be suddenly standing next to a dragon.

Bracken nearly jumped out of his skin. The beautiful place where he was standing was very serene. But serenity wasn't on his mind as he looked into the bright eyes of his friend. He was a slightly irritated with the dragon for his thoughtlessness.

"Hi Bracken," Raxtus chortled excitedly.

"Hi Raxtus," Bracken laughed, it was hard to stay mad at the cheerful little dragon. He was like a friendly puppy. His whole body shook with excitement over something.

"Are you in a hurry? I just wanted to ask you a couple questions," Raxtus whispered conspiratorially and suddenly went still.

"Um. No, I'm not in a big rush. What's on your mind?" Bracken answered wondering what he was going to ask.

"Bracken, what if I could erase my avatar and start over?" he asked in an excited whisper. His shoulder was the height of Bracken's head and his head on his long neck snaked around so that he was almost face to face with him.

"What do you mean?" Bracken whispered back, looking him in the eye, slightly cringing at Raxtus' sharp teeth so close to his head.

"We found a spell that allows a dragon to invoke a new avatar. A different one!

"Seth found a bunch of dragon magic stuff on one of his adventures. His grandmother called Agad and I helped bring it back to Wyrmroost. I was curious and he let me help when he was going through everything. He found a scroll hidden in a secret compartment. My avatar pulled it free and was first to read the scroll. There was a description of a strange and unknown ritual that erases your current avatar and lets you start again. What if I could erase mine and start fresh? I might have more control over what I should look like now that I'm older and sort of know what I am doing," Raxtus continued to whisper, his teeth clicking next to Bracken ear.

"You don't know that. What if you made it worse?" Bracken laughed uneasily through his whispered words. He didn't know why Raxtus didn't like his avatar. He always thought Raxtus' avatar was unique and wonderful, like him. He couldn't imagine going through an unknown ritual just to change it.

"Pssht-humph," he snorted. "How could anything be worse than what I have right now? This may be a way to repair that part of me. Make me _normal,_" he whispered almost in awe at the thought. "I'll always be a small dragon but if I could have a normal avatar that would be tremendous.

"My new avatar could be a real fairy or a normal human," he mused.

"But a normal dragon avatar is human not fairy," Bracken said, continuing to whisper, slightly confused at the topic. "I thought you said you might have more control over what you become. Why even consider a fairy avatar?"

"I don't care if I'm a fairy as long as it is the right size. I'd gladly be a normal fairy if it will keep the fairies from giggling at me," he said, as if he only deserved his second choice.

"Fairy or human they would giggle at you anyway. You don't know fairies very well if you think that," Bracken laughed aloud. He knew Raxtus was worthy of his first choice.

"Well then they would be giggling for a real reason instead of because I'm a freak," he said annoyed.

Finally, he gave up whispering, he knew Bracken's shield would keep anyone from hearing their conversation. "See if you can find out if it is a real possibility that the scroll is real. My father and Agad have no idea if the ritual would work. They didn't know it existed and they typically know all dragon history. But it's supposed to be a secret so don't spread it around."

"I'll ask mother. She remembers everything, even if there was any rumor of it she will know. If she doesn't I'll check around discreetly," Bracken replied, willing to help.

Bracken wanted to help his friend but he was worried about Raxtus' reluctance in choosing a human avatar. Did he think it was it too much to hope for a human avatar? Was it that he didn't want to be disappointed if it didn't work out?

As soon as their conversation was over fairies begun to crowd around them, giggling at their two favorite Fairydom stars.

"Shoo!" Raxtus fussed at them. They scattered as he spread his wings and lifted off. They chased him as he flew back to the shrine. Diving into the crystal water he disappeared.

Surrounded by giggling and chattering fairies Bracken continued on his reason for being in Fablehaven, a long overdue and unexpected visit to Kendra.

When Bracken returned home he began to ask innocent questions about the difference between fairy and dragon magic. If it was possible for Bracken to help his friend he wanted to do it. He needed to know if the two types of magic could co-habit one creature and got no real answer.

Raxtus was unique. Using Raxtus as his only example, all he could do was conjecture that the two types of magic couldn't work at the same time in a dragon. Because of how the fairies used their magic on Raxtus to quicken his emergence from his egg, Bracken conjectured that it suppressed his innate dragon magic. The fairy magic would always trump the dragon magic in Raxtus making him an outcast, if only in his own eyes.

His unique power to become invisible could be either dragon or fairy. Both fairy magic and dragon magic could invoke an avatar so there was no way to pinpoint if he had both types of magic in him.

Another one of Raxtus concerns was his 'breath weapon'. He had none. His breath made things, like flowers, trees and human hair, grow. His breath could also heal wounds, not as well as a unicorn's horn but well enough to be a real asset at times. Both abilities were fairy magic traits.

Bracken's research found out that breath 'weapons' and the casting of spells were an intrinsic part of dragon magic so Raxtus would never be a proper dragon as long as he was imbued with fairy magic. Bracken determined that Raxtus needed his natural dragon magic to emerge and make him a true dragon. Although he would always be a small dragon he would at least be an acceptable dragon.

Bracken started studying how to remove fairy magic and hit a dead end.

When he was able to talk with his mother about the strange spell she remembered it. Two thousand years ago an ancient wizard created the spell in an attempt to have a new young avatar. She remembered it because the wizard needed her permission to use a certain woodcarver who moved to her realm and rarely left.

The spell required the wizard to revert back to his dragon state to invoke a new avatar. The wizard had renounced his original dragon form and couldn't go back to it. He was so old he forgot that he couldn't, so the spell didn't work. The wizard died in the attempt. He was a very intelligent and inventive wizard though and it probably would have worked if he hadn't renounced his dragon form and should work on a dragon like Raxtus.

Bracken's mother also told him that there was a way to remove or drain fairy magic from any creature. It was dark and terrible magic and a heavily guarded secret. Not something to take lightly or easily accomplished because of the very rare essential components. The spell required three rare ingredients: a unicorn in possession of two of their horns and a Fairykind. The spell had always been a well guarded secret but even more so now.

Kendra was the first human to become Fairykind in over a thousand years. Someone who was Fairykind was a unique human being enhanced with rare fairy magic and wielding tremendous power. Kendra had little clue as to her true scope of powers and few had knowledge of Kendra's special status.

Bracken was convinced that Raxtus needed to be free of the fairy magic to become what he truly was. Originally used to protect him and save his life, he didn't need it now. Even though he sometimes resented the fairy magic he would cling to it since it was part of his being and all he had known his entire life. Bracken knew that the little dragon would never give up the magic willingly.

Bracken developed a plan with his mother to give the wonderful little dragon his best shot at being a true dragon. Raxtus was going to have to embrace his dragon magic whether he wanted it or not. It was Bracken's opinion, and his mother agreed, that Raxtus wouldn't be able to change his avatar unless he totally changed. He would never be considered a _proper_ dragon if his avatar was a fairy, he needed to have a human avatar.

Bracken also knew that it was important that they cast one spell immediately before they cast the other spell for Raxtus to get full benefit of either spell.


	6. Deception with Good Intentions

Deception with Good Intentions

Based on characters from Fablehaven© by Brandon Mull. The original characters and plot details are my property. No copyright infringement intended.

Bracken went to talk to Celebrant at Wyrmroost. He had three reasons for visiting Raxtus' father. One was to talk about Raxtus and get his approval to change his son if it were possible. The second was to assist in the verification of the spell and availability of necessary spell components. Lastly, but very important to him, was to restore a Fairy Queen's shrine at the sanctuary.

Part of his current 'job' was to help his mother re-establish shrines linking the sanctuaries of the world to the Queen's new realm. She had destroyed all the shrines that linked to her old realm and one by one he was repairing the damage and establishing new links to the Queen. The neglected shrine at Wyrmroost had never been a very active one but it had been Raxtus' link to the sanctuary and an aid to others in time of need.

Bracken was amazed that the key to enter the Dragon sanctuary was still a unicorn horn. Although a distractor spell protected the sanctuary that worked on most people and creatures Bracken had no problems getting in to the sanctuary and the keep.

His unexpected arrival, duly noted by watchers as soon as he entered the sanctuary gate, prompted all manner of runners and flyers with the news to the keep. Several expatriates from his mother's realm anxious to see the Fairy Prince met him at the entrance of the keep to tell him he could see Celebrant.

A Minotaur took the role as guide and led him to a small library where he waited. Celebrant, in his human form, greeted him a few minutes later and Bracken explained his reasons for being there.

"I should have known that Raxtus would get you involved in this," Celebrant shook his head wearily and sat in an uncomfortable looking stone chair.

"Yes, he thought that my mother could shed some light on the origin of the spell and if it is a feasible choice for Raxtus. I think that she may be able to if we could take a look at it," Bracken replied.

"He is too enthusiastic about this course of action. I am concerned about what it might do to him. I also know if we could complete the spell that it could make Raxtus more dragon-like and less..." Celebrant looked up at Bracken apologetically. "I don't know what his avatar looks like but I will take his word that it isn't a seemly avatar for a dragon," he replied like an exasperated parent.

"That's his opinion, of course. My concern is making sure it is a real spell, the ingredients are available and that it could be carried out without endangering him," Bracken replied, trying to be as analytical as possible.

"Certainly, you and your mother may examine the scroll but you may only view it here. I can't allow it to leave Blackwell again," Celebrant agreed, shifting his weight in the chair.

"While I am here may I also reestablish the Fairy Shrine here at Wyrmroost? It would allow my mother access to the sanctuary without all the extra formalities. You also know how well her shrines are guarded," Bracken continued his analytical tone.

"Yes of course, it was never a problem for us and I know the fairies and their ilk would like to return home occasionally. Please go ahead," Celebrant conceded. He stood and inelegantly rubbed his cold damp backside, looking down disgustedly at the stone chair, the cause of his discomfort.

"Thank you. Mother and I will return when the shrine is completed," Bracken said gratified that he had gotten the concessions from Celebrant.

"Goodbye, Prince Bracken," Celebrant dismissed him and then left the room grumbling about the human body's physical inadequacies.

Bracken made the potentially dangerous trip out to the old shrine unscathed. The fairies still at the dragon sanctuary passed the word quickly that he was there and they came to greet him at the ruined shrine. With his encouragement, their help made his job much easier. In hours instead of days they had repaired the shrine and linked back to his mother's realm.

Bracken found his mother, sitting with his father. He thought he was looking better every day though his weakness still confined him to a bed. After appropriate greetings and bonding, Bracken got to his reason for the visit.

"Mother, I got Celebrant to agree to let us look at the spell Raxtus is excited about."

"Very well," she sighed. "Ah! Bracken, I am glad you were able to reestablish my link to Wyrmroost." She brightened as she felt the renewed link.

"Glad to be of service," he replied smiling.

The next day Bracken and his mother entered Wyrmroost through the repaired portal and visited Celebrant and the scroll. Celebrant greeted them again in his human form. He took them to the small room where he kept the scroll safely guarded.

"My, it is very old," she said as she looked at the vellum. "See, here – he calls it his reShape spell." She pointed to something on the scroll.

Celebrant grumbled and left the room.

"Is it real?" Bracken asked, looking over her shoulder.

"It is his mark," she confirmed. "I remember that he needed this particular entity." She tapped the name on the sheet. "Yes, this is the real thing and I don't see anything about it that would harm Raxtus if the spell failed, since he hasn't renounced his dragon form."

"Are all of the strange components required to invoke the spell available?" Bracken asked his mother.

They went over the spell one component at a time and she confirmed that they still existed.

"Oh, look at this Bracken," she said excitedly, "a wizard is not required to perform the incantation. You and Kendra can do this alone. That makes the whole thing easier," she whispered, even though she knew no one would over hear them, her privacy shield was stronger than his.

This played nicely into Bracken's plan to cast one spell before the other.

"I only have one concern dear," his mother whispered again staring at the scroll. "Once you remove his fairy magic. On the rare chance the spell is ineffective; Raxtus may not have the ability to invoke his old avatar. There is a possibility that he may have no avatar at all."

"I will tell him but I am fairly certain that he will be willing to take the chance," Bracken replied. He was glad she had told him her concern, he had been wondering what might be the possibilities if things didn't work out.

Bracken escorted his mother back to the shrine and went back to Blackwell Keep to talk to Celebrant.

"Mother confirmed that the reShape spell will work or at the very least not harm him. Raxtus will lose all of his fairy magic as a result of the spell and the lack will frighten him. He was actually changed to accept the foreign magic and it has been with him all his life," he said.

"That is unimportant. I should have never allowed him to remain in such an unnatural state. I only have myself to blame, I should have searched for a spell such as this one." He said mildly regretful. "Nevertheless, he will do well enough without it. He will have a guide to help him recover his dragon powers after the spell is performed and he rests," Celebrant replied confidently.

"The spell states that he will have to 'cessate' afterward?" Bracken added not having a clue what that meant. He knew cessation meant to stop but he didn't know what that meant to dragons.

"Yes, it may take a while for him to recover," Celebrant nodded but Bracken noticed a worried look cross his face but he made no other comment on the subject.

Bracken then assumed that it meant Raxtus would rest. He didn't want to ask for clarification or to seem like he was prying. He knew better than to irritate a dragon.

"Is that all?" Celebrant asked wanting to end the conversation.

"Yes, we will let you know when everything is set up," Bracken answered getting the feeling he was being dismissed, again.

"Good, thank you," Celebrant replied as he turned away.

With Celebrant's approval and the Queen's assurances that the spell was workable Bracken went to recruit Kendra.

"We have a chance of restoring Raxtus to full dragon status. He can get his human avatar and be able to develop his dragon powers. He can get his breath weapons and use dragon magic to cast spells," Bracken announced to Kendra in the privacy warded space of her room. Although his shield kept them from being overheard he felt safer talking to her in her doubly warded room. He didn't want anyone to be able to hear what he was telling her.

"Wow, that's wonderful," she said and smiled at him. She was very glad to hear the news.

"But…" Bracken smiled but his eyes looked serious behind the smile.

"What?" she said suspiciously.

"I need your help to pull it off," he said, the seriousness of the situation came out in his voice.

"Me?" she asked surprised.

"Yes, you. Without you there will be no human avatar or dragon magic for Raxtus."

"Me? How can I keep him from…" she trailed off, her forehead wrinkled at her confusion.

"Not keep it from him, give it to him. You can let his dragon magic in by releasing the fairy magic. You are the Queen's only handmaiden and you are the only one who can do it," he said fervently.

"Me? Oh Bracken, I don't know what to do," she said, shook her head and immediately worried. Her status as fairykind was a constant concern for her. She was afraid she would do something wrong or be asked to do something she wasn't comfortable doing. This was one time she felt the sting of acute discomfort.

"You don't have to know what to do. I will be there too. We have to do this together; me, my horns, and you. We can make this happen for Raxtus," he said encouragingly.

"I don't have to do anything gross or hurt him?"

"I don't think it will hurt and I know it's not gross. No live sacrifices or anything," he laughed.

"Good," she sighed. "I'll help if it will make Raxtus a real dragon," she smiled.

Kendra waited in the moonlight at the edge of the lake across from the island of Fairy Queen's shrine. Raxtus was supposed to be coming. She had commanded all the fairies away while she talked to Raxtus. She didn't want to be overheard so she told them to keep everyone and anything away also.

Raxtus had been told the spell on the scroll would work and that if he wanted to take the chance it was all right. Celebrant would allow it to be used this once. His father also told him that she and Bracken were willing to perform the spell. She was there to update him and fill in the particulars as they knew them now.

Kendra saw an undulating silver ribbon as the dragon shot out of the pond on the island. His silver wings unfurled as he continued his dive into the sky. Water drops cascading from his platinum scaled body glittered like falling silver in the moonlight. The dragon spiraled upward an icy blue figure in the moonlit night sky.

Kendra heard his joyous laughter as he pirouetted gracefully, the water flying from his scales as he glided toward her. She knew he was excited about the news. She was too but she was also nervous. Raxtus glided to land only a few feet from her. He wasn't big for a dragon but he was still big.

"Hi Raxtus! How is training going?" Kendra decided to ignore her doubts and just enjoy her friend; she hadn't seen him in over a month. Raxtus had been in training for three years and still hadn't developed a single breath weapon.

"Hi Kendra. It's going great! Dad is happy, well at least he's not too embarrassed by my progress. He is impressed with my maneuverability and my stealth," he said, his big toothy grin was a bit intimidating but his eyes sparkled happily, "and I've learned a few new tricks."

"I guess you can't get much stealthier than invisible," she laughed.

"Yah! I guess so." He replied his mood changing. "When do we do this thing?" Raxtus asked impatiently.

"On a solstice so we have to wait until summer." She saw the disappointment in Raxtus' eyes.

"That long?" he whined.

"You have put up with it for a long time what does a few weeks matter now? Besides we need the time, there is something we actually have to make to get it to work," she said trying to soothe his disappointment.

"You're not sure it will work?" he asked surprised and unhappy.

"Oh, it'll work or they wouldn't let us try. You know exactly what that means."

Kendra knew Raxtus wanted some part of himself to be normal. He would never be a 'normal' dragon; there was nothing he could do about that. He was small almost miniature compared to other dragons, and it embarrassed him even if he was strong, fast and deadly with his teeth and claws. If he could get his avatar to be normal it would give him some peace of mind. Knowing this was enough for Kendra to hope the spell worked and to be happy for her friend.

"Yes I know what that means. If it doesn't work, at least it won't hurt me. Arrrgh! I wish they knew what it was like," Raxtus growled at the moon.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"That they could feel what it was like to be a universal freak. Then maybe they would know why I want this even if it would hurt me," he said resentfully.

"You are not a universal freak. You are my friend," she told him. "If you were a normal dragon I would be terrified of you - do you want that?" she asked him cynically.

"No of course not but… Grraaahh! I don't know. It's so frustrating. I love parts of my life and hate others."

"I think we all feel that way Raxtus. We all have good parts and bad parts in our lives... So have you thought about what you will look like?" Kendra asked curiously.

"I have thought of nothing else. I can't get a grip on what I really want except to be normal. What do you think I should do?" he asked, wondering what she thought he should look like.

"Why not just become a human that looks like your fairy avatar?" she asked.

"The few fairies that have seen it say I'm cute and giggle at me," Raxtus said angrily.

"Well there you go, that sounds good," Kendra said cheerfully. She remembered telling him he was 'adorable' when she saw him but he was a distance away at the time.

"Good? Men aren't cute!" he countered, irritated.

"I think Bracken is cute and so do the fairies," she answered defensively.

"What?" he exclaimed. "I thought Bracken was handsome," he said confused.

"He is, very, but he is also cute. Ah, I think you have a misconception of the term cute as used by girls and I guess by fairies too. 'Cute boy' is a term unto itself. Not like cute puppy or cute dress," she explained. "A cute boy can be someone you would like go out with, someone you just like to look at or someone you like to be around. A cute boy can be a friend or a boy friend if you're lucky a little of both. Cute boys may not even be considered handsome."

"So cute is good?" he asked still confused.

"Definitely! If you are a young person, you tend to think of boys and girls as cute rather than beautiful or handsome. You should know! You've seen enough drive-in movies haven't you?"

"Yes, I think I know what you mean. They used to show lots of teenage beach movies but the drive-in movies are usually horror films now. I don't go very often any more. I liked the beach movies better," he admitted.

"Those old things? I've tried to watch them, they are so cheesy but they do show how girls act when they think boys are cute: Sighing, staring, giggling and sly, shy glances and winks." She mimed each action as she said it.

"Looks like what fairies do around me on those rare occasions they have seen me as my avatar," he admitted watching her.

"Your current avatar is handsome, believe me 'cute' is a good thing.

"How old will you look?" she asked curiously. She had no idea since his current avatar was very boyish and though she had seen only a few dragon avatars, she had never seen one as young his current avatar.

"What?"

"When you invoke your new avatar will you be a boy, a teenager or a grown man?"

"If I had invoked a human avatar when I should have I suppose that even now I would look like a teenage boy. Our bodies age about one year per hundred human years –something like that," he said shrugging.

"It takes 100 years to age a human year? Wow!" His statement startled her.

"Yes, about that. I'm a young adult dragon but I still act like an adolescent or so I've been told. I suppose that if I get a human avatar, I will be a young teenage boy – man – whatever. If it's a fairy I'll probably look the same as I do except smaller and I will age faster than fairies."

"Why would you age faster?" she asked, she knew he didn't have to worry about that but she was curious.

"Fairies don't really age. They can die of course but not of old age. Most of the fairies I know have been around a long time. They don't act it though." He rolled his eyes.

"I wonder where they came from," she mused.

"The fairy queen's realm, it started getting crowded so she let them come here and they liked it," he said, smiling broadly. "I like it here too."


	7. Preparations for Solstice

Preparations for Solstice

Based on characters from Fablehaven© by Brandon Mull. The original characters and plot details are my property. No copyright infringement intended.

Only six people knew the actual components to one or the other spell. Even Bracken who had seen both spells and had a perfect memory didn't know what some of the items were. Although the others who knew the reShape spell's requirements and knew the names of the components, only the Fairy Queen knew whether they existed on the planet or in her realm. She was also the only one who knew what the components were or in some cases _who_ they were.

She was in charge of getting everything setup for the summer solstice. All timed and subtlety arranged for Bracken and Kendra to perform the two spells without anyone else knowing what they were really going to do.

The reShape scroll contained a detailed drawing of a table with intricate woodcarvings. The tabletop had to be a solid two inch slab of chestnut wood. The design carved into the slab of wood was the main component of the ritual. Sizeable legs of the same type wood supported the table top.

Bracken drew up a simplified drawing for the basic table and gave it to Stan Sorenson. He described it to him as a task for the Fairy Queen but didn't tell him why she needed it.

Trusting Bracken, Stan did what he asked to do. He, Dale and Hugo the golem went into the forest and cut down an American chestnut tree that was 4 feet in diameter. Stan was sad because it was one of the few that had survived the chestnut blight of 1890-1900. It and four others that were growing protected in Fablehaven survived because of the magical field surrounding the sanctuary. It was the smallest of the five trees. The trees used to grow everywhere but now were extremely rare. They took it home and sawed it up as the drawing described.

Mendingo, Seth and Bracken were busy with their own project. They were constructing a protective building for the private performance of the spell. It had to be large enough for Raxtus to walk into and turnaround comfortably. Since Celebrant had said that Raxtus would be sleeping for a while, they wanted to make sure it was long enough to accommodate a sleeping dragon. Even as small as Raxtus was (for a dragon) it was still going to be a good sized building.

Mendingo was limberjack. He had been a witch's toy, a wooden doll with loose joints on the end of a long stick, her toy puppet. She had cast a spell making him a 6' tall animated magical construct, like a golem, made of wood with metal hooks for joints. The witch sent him to attack Kendra but with the help of fairies he had become an ally. He obeyed orders but he had certain amount of free will and he was part of the 'family' like Hugo. He was very strong and was able to hold and carry as much as Hugo could. They didn't need a wench or crane with Mendingo around.

Hugo joined their endeavor once they got the walls built. The ten foot tall dirt and stone golem assisted by holding up two of the heavy walls against the corner posts as Mendingo nimbly scaled the wall to join the walls to the corners. After the walls were up, Seth started calling it the 'little barn'. It was actually a pretty good sized barn; it just wasn't anywhere the size of Viola's five-story barn. Hugo and Mendingo were instrumental in getting the heavy wooden roof beams positioned so Bracken and Seth could bolt them into place.

Fairies transplanted all of the grass so that the floor could be dirt. A week before the solstice the little barn was finished. Stan had Hugo carry the heavy slabs of chestnut wood into the building.

The Fairy Queen sent a master carver from her realm to carve the intricate drawing on the slab of wood. The old woodcarver was creature who looked like a gnarled tree trunk in the shape of a man. He was an ancient and rare entity, who left part of itself in any carving he made and so was part of the design and an ingredient also. That was one of the details she didn't want to share.

The old woodcarving creature was an integral part of the table's construction, without him the table wouldn't have worked no matter how long any other carver worked on it. He worked quickly and quietly; it only took him three days to carve the elaborate design the pattern that only he knew. Powders and pastes of the other ingredients were mixed and infused into specific parts of the carving. Once the top was finished, he fitted the wooden slabs together into a table.

Other than the very small group no one really knew what they were going to do in the little barn, only that Bracken, Kendra and Raxtus were involved and all activities had the Fairy Queen's approval. So when the woodcarver left Bracken sealed the building against anyone entering except him. Then Bracken sent a message to Raxtus via Shiara that the preparations were complete.

Only those with fairy magic could come to the invoking of the first spell though they didn't know exactly what they would be observing. It would be hard enough to keep the curious out so there were a few spells put on the building. Bracken further protected the building with a distractor spell. To come near the little barn either Bracken or Kendra personally had to invite you though they didn't share this information with anyone. Those not invited couldn't see or find the building at all.

Raxtus flew to the area that Bracken had told him about earlier. He had given him directions a week before the Solstice. He was so excited. It was hard to stay away. The three days since Shiara had told him that everything was ready were the longest days of his life. She was curious but he couldn't tell her what was going to happen, she would have to wait also.

He was only slightly nervous about this ceremony or spell or whatever it was but he was terribly excited. He trusted both Kendra and Bracken. They were necessary components of the procedure so they told him. He was sure that this would cure his predicament. He believed that his avatar would either become either fully human as it was supposed to be or fully fairy. The uncertainty of this outcome did not concern him. He could stand being one or the other. It was this freakish in-between-ness that really bothered him. He had been this way for all of his adult life. As soon as he was old enough to invoke his avatar, he had been a pitiful oddity, too big to be a fairy and too small to be human, never mind the wings.

He arrived early and invisible. Flying high above the little barn, circling at first then he landed on the thick grass outside the north wall. He wandered around smelling the freshly turned earth and newly cut wood. The building was unpainted and had a large two door opening on the south side. There was one window high on the western wall. On his second time around the building, he saw Bracken smiling and standing in the open doorway. As he moved closer, he saw the reason for Bracken's smile. Kendra was just inside the door.

Raxtus became visible twenty feet away greeting Bracken with his own toothy smile. Bracken was only briefly startled at Raxtus' sudden appearance.

"This way, we are set up in here. You can come in now if you want," Bracken called to him.

"Hi Raxtus," Kendra smiled as she moved closer to Bracken.

He walked in the large opening, swinging his head back and forth taking in the details of the building. It was one open and airy room.

"Hi Kendra. Bracken. Is everything set?" He walked toward the center of the room.

"Yes everything is ready. How are you?" Kendra smiled as she asked him. She raised her hand and he lowered his head and nuzzled it. She loved the cool smoothness of the small scales on his face and he loved the warmth of the fairy magic that flowed from her.

"I'm great. What do I need to do?" he asked, looking around eagerly while keeping contact with her hand.

"We have a window of opportunity to get this done or we will have to wait until winter. Our time starts in five minutes and lasts less than 3 hours. We have plenty of time," Kendra told him as she lowered her hand.

The room was large enough for him to get into and out of in his dragon form. He had no trouble turning around in the place. He even thought it was big enough to spread his wings if he needed to. He had no idea how he was going to come out of this room, either as a dragon or as his new avatar.

There were no furnishings except a single large table close to the northeast corner. The walls were plain wood and the floor was packed dirt. The building looked old but felt and smelled new. He didn't remember ever seeing it before. He thought maybe they had built it specifically for this occasion, he was grateful if that was the case.

The room was lit by sunlight streaming in from the western facing window and from a small glowing orb floating close to the ceiling in the center of the room about 8 feet above Raxtus' head. The other light in the room was from Kendra, she glowed with her own internal light.

Bracken closed and latched the door behind them, darkening the room but showing just how brightly Kendra glowed. Kendra and Bracken began walking toward the table.

There was a large clock on the north wall. Raxtus thought it had something to do with timing the solstice. He continued to look around and noticed several small groups of fairies. He sighed to himself. They followed him everywhere even here.

Raxtus was excited though even with a room full of nosey fairy observers.

"You have to be in your avatar form Raxtus. This won't work if you aren't," Bracken told him when he had arrived at the table.

"Oh alright," he sighed suddenly embarrassed. "Why do they have to be here?" Raxtus asked pointedly glancing at the small gathering of fairies assembled in groups at the edges of the room.

"I can't keep them out. They love you and are worried about you," Kendra told him, refraining from telling him she invited the garden fairies, Shiara and her sisters.

"Oh right," he said sarcastically and sighed.

A fairy with silver wings and bright blue hair flew up to him and gave his huge head a hug. Although when first hatched Raxtus had been officially been a ward of the Fairy Queen, Shiara held a special place in his heart, even now, as his 'foster mother'.

"Be good," she admonished him.

"Oh… okay." He reluctantly agreed like a spoiled child. He watched as she flew back to a group of fairies hovering just below the window in the west wall. He clenched his jaw and prepared himself for humiliation.


	8. Broken Magic Broken Heart

Broken Magic Broken Heart

Based on characters from Fablehaven© by Brandon Mull. The original characters and plot details are my property. No copyright infringement intended.

In a bright flash, Raxtus transformed from a twelve foot tall, twenty-three foot long silver white dragon to become his embarrassing avatar, a slender foot tall boy with wings. He hovered in the air. His rapidly fluttering metallic butterfly shaped wings glimmered in the bright fairylight and his shoulder length silver white hair looked windblown. He was wearing a plain brown loincloth and nothing else. His boyishly handsome face reflected his eager anticipation and his total embarrassment. Still mischief twinkled in his sharp ice blue eyes as he turned to glare at the giggling garden fairies.

This was the first time Kendra had seen Raxtus' avatar in the light. The only other time she had seen him he was a small shadowy figure, she had called him adorable then. He had let her see him just enough for her to know he wasn't lying about his 'strangeness'. She thought he was cute but that would probably make him even more miserable. Neither dragons nor their avatars were supposed to be 'cute'.

Kendra stood behind the intricately carved table, Bracken beside her. Bracken looked incongruously ready for battle, carrying his two swords. One sheathed on his hip and the longer one strapped across his back.

Looking up at the clock and ignoring the still giggling fairies Raxtus flew across the room to join them.

"Are you ready?" Kendra asked smiling at Raxtus. She got a good look at him and thought he was quite strikingly handsome, and though quite small he was too large to be considered a proper fairy. As he stared up at her she thought his eyes were remarkable, the unique blue of glacial ice.

"Ready as I will ever be. Thanks for doing this," Raxtus said smiling shyly back at them.

Kendra smiled at his small but pleasant voice. It was similar to his dragon voice but lacked the resonance and volume. She turned to face Bracken. She smiled up at him and nervously held out her hands to receive his unicorn horns.

He smiled back and pulled a short sword from the scabbard on his hip. With a mirage-like ripple in the surrounding air it shifted its appearance into a lustrous unicorn horn. This one with the lazy spirals was the horn of his childhood, his first horn, full of powerful rejuvenation magic. He pulled his second much longer sword from the sheath on his back and it too returned to its original shape of a tightly spiraling horn. This deadly looking spike with a thin translucent skin over a luminous pearly core was the horn of his youth, his second horn, full of growth and healing power.

He laid the small light horn in her right hand and the longer heavier horn in her left hand.

As they touched her skin, the horns took on a glow of fairy magic brighter than anything Raxtus had ever seen. They glowed even brighter than Kendra herself did. He winced at the brightness and narrowed his eyes.

She smiled when she saw his eyes narrow; she knew he was seeing something she had never seen – the glow of fairy magic. Oh well, she thought, she could feel the magic. She felt the cool horns warm in her grip.

Bracken's eyes also narrowed against the sudden brightness. Fairies gasped at the powerful visual result of her touch. Kendra's seemingly endless supply of fairy magic surprised even him.

He smiled at Raxtus knowing what was about to happen may become frightening but it was going to be a good thing for him in the end.

Raxtus thought Bracken smiled at him though it was difficult to see him. He was a dim shadowy outline next to Kendra's and the horns' brightness.

Kendra seemed unaffected by the brilliant shine. She claimed that she didn't see her own glow. There's no way she can't see this, he thought.

Raxtus hovered above the table his wings flashing as they reflected the light from the glowing horns in Kendra's grip. The light streaked back and forth across the walls of the room. He was very self-conscious as the watching fairies twittered and giggled as the light flitted past them. He never got used to the humiliation but stoically he knew it would all be behind him shortly. Still he wished that even this part was private. He wouldn't have minded Shiara being here; it was the rest of the silly creatures that bothered him.

"Stand on your feet Raxtus. We need you to be still. Stand in the center," Bracken instructed him pointing at the tabletop.

He obeyed and as his bare feet settled on the table his wings came to a halt. Standing on the tabletop felt strange. He looked down and wiggled his tiny toes and it felt even stranger.

He looked up, scanning the room, at the sudden commotion. The resulting stationary beam of light reflecting off his metallic wings caused fairies to scramble away from the intense glare that had found a home where they had been watching the proceedings.

"Ok, here we go." Kendra took a deep breath and sighed.

She held the blunt tip of the small horn to Raxtus's tiny forehead. "Don't move," she whispered nervously.

He tried to look at the unicorn horn she held against his head but it was too bright. He felt heat enter him and the tingle of fairy magic. He was used to Kendra's magical warmth when she touched him, skin to scale. This was slightly different as it flowed through Bracken's horn but it felt good. She had transferred her warming fairy magic to him many times when he was a dragon but she had never touched him in his avatar form.

No one had ever touched him in his avatar form not even Shiara. Even now she was not touching him the horn separated them. Now no one ever would touch this avatar, soon it would be gone. He reached out with his tiny hand to touch her hand but it was too far away. His arm was too short.

Oh well, he thought, it's all right.

But it wasn't. His avatar self was terribly sad when he should have been happy.

Kendra saw him reach out to her but couldn't respond, her hands were full and the timing had to be right also. She set the base of the second horn against his chest over his heart and the flow of magic out of her increased, surprising her. She thought that she was going to be removing fairy magic from Raxtus not adding to it.

Raxtus felt the flow increase and he began to glow. With the boost of magic he got even warmer. Although it wasn't painful, it was beginning to get uncomfortable, like he was full to bursting with magic. He was glowing brighter than Kendra was and the light was just as intense with his eyes closed as not.

When Raxtus thought he would explode or outshine the sun Bracken reached out, and placed his right hand on horn that pressed against his forehead just in front of Kendra's hand. The intense feeling subsided, the rapid flow of magic stopped and the glow dimmed slightly.

Raxtus sighed with relief, looking over at Bracken's dim outline.

Kendra felt the flow reverse, the magic slowly returning to her through the horn. This was more like what she expected.

Bracken smiled briefly at him then he put his left hand on the other horn. The glow and warmth began to fade rapidly as if he were drawing all of the magic away. His smile faded.

Raxtus began to weaken as if the horn drained both his magic and his life-force away and it frightened him.

"No! Wait! What are you doing? This isn't right. Stop!" Raxtus raised his tiny voice in alarm. He tried to pull away but the magic held him in place. He tried to use his wings to get away, they flashed once as he tried to rise from the ground. His feet felt glued to the tabletop held there by magic also.

"Don't move Raxtus," Kendra pleaded as she concentrated on holding the horns still. She saw more than felt his feeble attempt to get away from her and Bracken. The flow of magic leaving Raxtus increased like a broken dam it flooded out of him. She wondered, is this too fast? It was frightening him, she was concerned but Bracken seemed calm.

"It's alright Raxtus. It is supposed to do this," Bracken said trying to calm him while also concentrating. He did not like what he was feeling as the flow of magic leaving Raxtus increased passing though his horns back into Kendra. This was 'terrible magic' as his mother had told him, and it was proving to be very frightening as well. He tried to remain calm for both Raxtus' and Kendra's sake.

"No! No, stop, I've changed my mind. Please. Kendra. Bracken. Stop," he begged, crying. His wings frantically pulled at the air but he remained unmoved.

He was hurting now not from the warmth but from the lack of it. He reached up to grasp the base of the horn resting on his chest over his heart but found he could not touch it. His small hand was not strong enough to push through the magic.

"Sorry Raxtus, it's too late to stop now," Bracken replied apologetically. Even though the spell's instructions were simple and plain Raxtus' reaction had him hoping that he was doing this correctly.

The light in the horns faded even faster now.

Kendra gasped. She, like Raxtus, was unable to move as she felt the rushing flood of magic leave him.

"No…" Raxtus sobbed his voice dim and weak. He thought he felt his life-force evaporating. His wings bent and shriveled looking like crumpled aluminum foil. His silver white hair turned an ugly gray. He was terrified and in his panic he fainted.

His tiny body hung limply, looking almost pierced by the horns, held by the magic still flowing out of him back into Kendra.

Fairies cried out in fear and started to huddle together around Shiara.

The light winked once and went out. Kendra and Bracken stood holding the now cool lightless unicorn horns. Raxtus' body, released from the magic of the horns, collapsed like a ragdoll to the tabletop.

Kendra stood there stunned. She was afraid she had pulled more than just magic from his body. He looked as if he was dead until she noticed he was still breathing.

Bracken quickly pulled the smaller of the two horns from Kendra's unresponsive hand. He bent over the table and using the horn turned Raxtus' body so he could lay the horn across his tiny chest. He placed a hand on each end of the horn channeling healing and hoping Raxtus could and would revert to his dragon form. _Come on you can do it_, he thought positively, feeling strength returning to the small body under his care.

His mother told him that in a dire health crisis like this all avatars automatically revert to their natural state, if possible. He, like wizards, was the exception, but Raxtus could revert and he needed to do it now.

Bracken, his horn and Raxtus' tiny body glowed with a brilliant blue light for a moment. Then in a blinding burst of white light Raxtus flashed back into a dragon collapsing the table beneath him, he rotated and hit the ground on his side. Bracken, pulling Kendra with him, jumped out of the way of the much larger form.

Raxtus' usually brilliant and shiny platinum scales were dull and dim. His eyes remained closed. His breathing was steady but otherwise he was motionless. His position pinned one of his wingtips beneath him, the other wing draped across the floor.

"What have we done?" Kendra gasped, appalled at his appearance. She stood back where he had pulled her, trembling, still holding onto the unicorn horn.

"What needed to be done," Bracken replied softly, unhappily. He touched the horn in his hand to the sheath on his side, it transformed back into a sword and effortlessly slid in. "He needs rest. He no longer has fairy magic. He must find the strength from inside now. He must depend on his inner dragon magic."

"How will he know what to do?" Kendra asked, tears streaming from her eyes.

Bracken looked at her, she wasn't in shock but she was upset. He took the other horn from her grip and it shimmered into a sword as he swung it over his head into the sheath across his back.

"Celebrant said he will have a guide, but that first he must rest," Bracken informed her and pulled her into his embrace. She trembled as he held her tightly, her tears continued to flow.

The fairies started to come closer now, concern showing on their faces. Shiara was especially upset.

"No! Stay away from him. Don't re-contaminate him with fairy magic. Let him do this on his own," Bracken warned them. "You must leave now," he said.

He kissed Kendra's forehead then walked across the room to the door. The fairies squealed with vexation but obeyed him and started drifting toward the exit.

Bracken unlatched and opened the door. Some darted out, some flew by slowly giggling at him, most were sad and fluttered close to Shiara.

Shiara was the last to leave. Her distress was apparent on her face.

"He will be okay, Shiara," Bracken reassured her.

She nodded and herded the fairies crowding around the doorway away from the building.


	9. Watching and Waiting

Watching and Waiting

Based on characters from Fablehaven© by Brandon Mull. The original characters and plot details are my property. No copyright infringement intended.

Bracken closed and latched the door again. He returned to stand next to Kendra and the unconscious dragon lying across the table.

"One more thing," he said and briefly hugged Kendra. He pulled a sheet of paper from his pocket. He read the incantation that would liberate Raxtus from his current avatar. Once he finished reading, he moved back to Kendra and wrapped his arms around her again. He pulled her back further watching and waiting for the outcome of the spell.

Where Raxtus' body hadn't covered the entire table Kendra could see the edges of the carved design glow orange then red. The smell of burning wood permeated the room but she felt no heat. Exotic scents wisped in dozens of separate multicolored smoky coils from beneath Raxtus' body. They wrapped his entire body, only avoiding his nostrils, in a vivid writhing cloud of conflicting fragrances. Kendra took a deep breath of one of the wonderful scents but just as she did another scent followed that made her gag. She did not breathe deeply again.

Bracken felt her breath deep then gag and wondered if the spell could harm them. He moved back pulling her further away until he bumped into the wall. He wondered if they were still too close. He could still smell the odors but the coils of smoke remained wrapped around Raxtus, relieving his mind somewhat.

Sweet and putrid, flowery and fetid, the unusually scented and colorful smoky coils flowed separately and smoothly at first. Then it churned and blended into a thin blue gray cloud and to Kendra it now smelled like human body odor, not a stinky sweaty smell but a pleasant totally human scent. The cloud tightened around him thickening almost obscuring his features like a dense fog, and then it oozed beneath his scales and disappeared.

His body glowed with a faint bluish light for a moment and his metallic sheen was renewed.

Kendra felt better when Raxtus looked more like himself again. She moved toward him.

"We can't touch him either," Bracken told her and held her back.

"What?" She looked at him incredulously.

"Your fairy magic, remember?" Bracken reminded her. "Once he wakes up you can hug him."

Bracken didn't move the broken table pieces on which Raxtus was lying. He did pick up one of the broken legs. He used it to move the unconscious dragon enough to get his wingtip out from under his body. He hoped that it gave him a more comfortable resting spot.

With a wave of his hand and a single uttered phrase Bracken revoked all the invitations. By doing so he sealed the building from everyone except him and Kendra. He didn't want anyone getting in and disturbing Raxtus especially nosy or concerned fairies. Anyone wanting to see Raxtus now had to have an escort.

Bracken stayed with Kendra as she hovered over Raxtus until the wee hours of the morning. She was horrified at what the spell had done to his tiny avatar; she kept muttering apologies. He had to watch her constantly as she repeatedly reached out her hand to touch the sleeping dragon.

"You can't, not yet," he told her each time as he pulled her hand back. It broke his heart listening to her cry before she finally fell asleep. He would have warned her if he had known the spell would have such a devastating effect and Raxtus would look so dreadful.

He carried her home when she finally fell asleep close to the slumbering dragon. He was worried about her, as she seemed more distressed as the night went on.

Bracken sat next to her bed the rest of the night watching her sleep. The next morning Kendra woke up anxious but seemed all right after they checked on Raxtus. He was unchanged and resting comfortably. Bracken relaxed when she didn't try to touch him and after watching him sleep for an hour, she was at ease leaving him alone in the security of the warded barn.

Kendra and Bracken took Stan in to see Raxtus. They explained that he had to rest in the little barn while he was in hibernation. Kendra told her grandpa that she was concerned because he was so still.

Stan didn't know what they had done or why, only that the Fairy Queen approved it. The dragon didn't seem in distress only asleep. He agreed with Bracken that Kendra should check on the dragon during his hibernation.

Bracken and Stan got her family to agree to let her check on Raxtus every day before she did her schoolwork and chores.

After lunch, Bracken said goodbye to Kendra and her family. He had to continue the work for his mother he had put aside the past few weeks to help Raxtus.

In the little barn, Raxtus rested.

Kendra checked up on him every day, some days she checked multiple times and some days Seth came along with her. Weeks went by and Raxtus did not stir. He was breathing, slowly. His eyes moved beneath their lids but otherwise he showed no sign of life.

Kendra and Seth were beginning to worry. Didn't he have to drink or eat or something, could he just sleep like that for days and weeks? Kendra wanted to contact Celebrant again and find out how long Raxtus was going to rest, no one had said and she hadn't asked. She didn't know when to start worrying (although she already had). She tried to get in touch with Bracken but he was unavailable, he was on another errand for his mother.

Her parents and grandparents told her not to be anxious that if Celebrant knew about what they had done and was concerned at all he would do something. She decided to wait until Bracken got back to voice her anxiety. The extent of their 'failure or success' was unknown and was preying on her mind.

She had traveled the same path each morning for three weeks now. The morning was cool and damp for mid July. Crossing the wide area of the exclusion field created by the distractor spell she looked expectantly at the building as the morning sunlight skimmed over the treetops and hit the door.

"Today he will wake up and see me waiting for him," she said aloud hoping to see him sitting there eyes wide and smiling his toothy dragon smile.

"Good morning, Raxtus," she greeted him as she always did when she opened the door. She closed the door behind her and let her eyes adjust to the dim light but Raxtus was not where he should be. This time the room was empty.

"Raxtus?" she called timidly.

She spun on her heels checking the entire room. He was not there.

"Raxtus!" she screamed. There was no answer. Her breath left her as she realized something dreadful had happened.

She stood silent listening for his breathing hoping she could hear him… that he was just invisible, but she heard nothing. Trembling, she stared at the fresh heavy footprints that headed for the door. They showed clearly on the dirt floor beneath her feet but they ended at the door. She threw open the door and in the bright sunlight she looked for the track of his footprints. The thick grass outside hid any sign of which way the little dragon had gone.

She ran around the little barn calling his name and scanning the area. She saw and heard nothing. Panicked she ran to the house for help.

"Help! He's gone, he's gone," she yelled frantically as she entered the garden lawn quickly running toward the house.

Dale rushed out of the barn in response to her yelling. "Who is gone?" Dale asked, as he approached.

Grandma Ruth and Marla hurried out the door as she reached the porch.

"Raxtus is no longer in the little barn and there is no sign of him. We have to look for him," she said panting from her long run. "He wouldn't have just left without saying something."

"I'll call grandpa and your dad," Grandma Ruth said. "Lord, I wish the distractor spell wasn't there," she muttered as she headed into the house to the 2-way radio. She knew better than to ask why the distractor spell was necessary and what they had done, the Fairy Queen had approved of it. It was up to them to make it right.

"We will wait for you at the cairn," Kendra's mom Marla yelled at Ruth.

Dale, Marla and Kendra headed toward the marker for little barn. Walking slowly at first because she didn't want to stop to rest Kendra regained her breath and strength.

The waiting point was a three foot tall cairn of stones about eleven hundred feet from the south door. The distractor spell wouldn't allow anyone to find the little barn. The cairn stones marked a spot nearby.

Marla and Dale decided that Dale needed to go first to check out the area, so Kendra had him close his eyes and took his hand. Constantly reassuring him, Kendra pulled and tugged Dale, who kept his eyes closed, to the perimeter of the building. When he was out of the spell's influence, he began a thorough search of the building careful not to disturb the evidence.

"I'm going to get mom," she told him as she watched him finish his search.

Dale shook his head knowing it would just be a waste of time to bring her mother over.

"I don't know why. There is nothing to see. Nothing she can do. Wait and bring Stan over when he arrives, that way he will know what we know. He can make his decision on what to do. It is up to him, you know," Dale told her bluntly and walked to the door ready to leave.

Dale walked with Kendra into the distractor field and he began walking away very fast. He knew he was in the 'wrong' place somewhere he shouldn't be. Kendra was holding him back and he knew she couldn't hold on to him. He began to panic, it was worse than when he came in but he had his eyes open now. He broke away running toward the 'right' place, he could see it and could feel that it was just ahead of him.

Kendra didn't know where he would wind up outside the distractor field but she wasn't going to chase him. He was running every which way but back toward the little barn. Now that he was frantically trying to get away, she knew she wouldn't be able to control him even if she caught up to him. She thought that either Bracken added a little more oomph to the spell or Dale was particularly susceptible.

She walked back to the cairn stones to find her Dad and Grandpa Stan waiting with her mother. Grandma Ruth had stayed behind in case Raxtus made his way to the house.

Dale had made it out of the spell area ahead of her. He was about a hundred feet away, out of breath and puffing from the spell induced run.

"You okay, Dale?" Scott asked.

Dale smiled and nodded, still wheezing trying to catch his breath.

"Dale didn't find anything," Kendra told them, her disappointment was obvious.

"Take me in and I will see what we are dealing with. No use you bringing anyone else in if there is nothing to see," Grandpa Stan told her soothingly.

Kendra took him to the building, holding his hand pulling him along with his eyes closed. He wasn't as resistant to going as Dale had been.

He checked the perimeter for evidence of any kind before going through the door. Inside he walked a grid, checking the dirt floor of the little barn, noting the various imprints in the dirt.

Kendra watched him methodically pace the floor hoping against hope that he would trip over an invisible but sleeping Raxtus but nothing blocked his pacing.

He casually glanced at the broken table but carefully followed Raxtus' footprints to the heavy grass just outside the door. Squatting in the dirt at the edge of the lawn he looked for signs of crushed grass leaves where the next foot print should have been and was disappointed.

"No sign, no sign at all," he sighed and stood up. "Let's go back. There is nothing else to do here," he said and shook his head. "Sorry sweetheart, I'm sorry I don't have better news for you."

He took her hand, closed his eyes and they walked quickly back to the cairn stones.

"There is nothing to show which way he went, so let's search the surrounding area. Ask the local inhabitants if they have seen him. I don't know what else to do. If he is invisible there is nothing we can do until he wants to be found," Stan said when they returned to the group waiting on them. Resigned to the fact that Raxtus was missing, they had to start a search for him.

When asked the local fairies had seen nothing. Stan figured that he had to have left the building either invisible or in the middle of the night. Since there were no footprints he must have taken flight immediately, meaning he could be anywhere.

Everyone was looking for Raxtus. Everywhere they went they looked and called. Whoever or whatever they met they asked if they had seen him. The biggest problem was if Raxtus were invisible, no one would find him. Other than the very small group no one really knew what they had been doing in the little barn, only that Raxtus was involved with his father's and the Fairy Queen's permission. Only they knew that if he was in his new avatar form he would not be recognizable. You couldn't miss even a small platinum dragon but what did he look like now? That really concerned them.

Seth sent the satyrs Newel and Doren to tell every creature that anyone of them could contact him if they saw Raxtus or even a stranger. They were readily agreeable but headed down the path toward their part of the forest.

Kendra thought that the lazy creatures probably just went back to their TV shack and settled in for the day.

Seth also found Nero the troll and asked him to spread the word to the darker entities at Fablehaven about the missing dragon. He told him that he would return the favor if they found him and reported it to him quickly. Nero laughed but did what the young shadow charmer asked.

Bracken came back when the fairies spread the word to the Fairy Queen that Raxtus had disappeared. He had all the fairies looking for the dragon. If they found him or even traces of him, they were to go to the shrine and let Fairy Queen know immediately.

Bracken's hardest challenge was calming Kendra. Before she had felt responsibility for the dragon's former avatar's tortured appearance now she was extremely fearful for his safety and she blamed herself for leaving him unguarded. After a few hours of comforting her and there was no information on his whereabouts from those searching for him, he reluctantly left. Bracken went immediately to Wyrmroost; he needed to relay the troubling information to Celebrant.

Distressed by the news, Celebrant himself flew over all of Fablehaven looking for his son. He left after a few days with Bracken's and the Fairy Queen's promise that they would immediately relay any information they found.

Everyone was confused and alarmed by Raxtus' disappearance. Weeks went by and all reports coming in were that no one had seen anything.

Kendra walked the long path to Warren's cabin asking every creature she passed if they had seen the small dragon, even ones that couldn't have answered, like blue jays and rabbits.

"Have you seen a small silver white dragon? He's not scary," Kendra asked an unfamiliar fairy, a gnome and a wood nymph.

The fairy shook her head, giggled and flew away. The gnome panicked, squeaked and ran away and the wood nymph totally ignored her as if she hadn't spoken at all.

It had been over a month since Raxtus had disappeared. She was so worried about her friend she didn't sleep well at night.

What if what they had done to him had killed him? What if he was invisible permanently? What if this? – What if that? She constantly worried day in and day out. There were so many unanswered questions and no one to ask. Her mother and grandmothers found things for her to do to keep her occupied otherwise she would have just sat around and cried over her 'what ifs'.

Bracken's continued absence was also adding to Kendra's stress. He left three weeks ago after the initial sweeping search for Raxtus and a disastrous confrontation with Celebrant that his mother had to settle. She received several affectionate messages but he had not returned to Fablehaven for a visit.

Ruth had her go to the cabin to get things ready for Warren's upcoming visit. Her hope was that maybe preparing the cabin for someone else Kendra cared about would expand her point of view. If not at least it gave her something to do besides moping around the house all day.


	10. Warren's Cabin

Warren's Cabin

Based on characters from Fablehaven© by Brandon Mull. The original characters and plot details are my property. No copyright infringement intended.

After the long walk, Kendra was tired and still depressed. Distracted she walked up to the cabin and was startled as several rabbits scattered. The sudden movement startled her so she ran to the porch for safety. The house had a warding spell on it and only humans could enter so she knew she was safe on the porch and in the house.

The vegetable garden that Warren and his brother Dale had planted during his stay there had become overgrown. Rabbits, mice and other wildlife had made a home around the cabin. Gnomes and other small vegetable eaters had also taken up harvesting the crop. She looked around the garden, noticed that the earth was freshly turned and some of the crop had been harvested. The garden gnomes had been hard at work tending the crop, though none were around at the moment. When nothing popped out of the high vegetation so she relaxed.

Kendra took note of the work needed to tidy up the porch then opened the screen door. She then opened the heavy wooden front door. She left the big wood door open and walked in. It was stuffy and overly warm inside the small cabin. She knew she would have to open the windows to let in air so she could work without overheating. When she entered, she had assumed the cabin would be empty so the feeling of not being alone surprised her.

Standing at the door, she started to scan the one room cabin. She heard a sigh. She turned toward the noise, her hand on the doorknob ready to slam the big door behind her and flee. She felt the cooler air rush into the room across her feet and heard a relieved sigh this time.

Over the edge of the kitchen table, she saw the head and shoulders of a thin pale young man, with long unruly white blonde hair, sitting on the floor his back against the bed. He was obviously overheated, his skin was sweaty and his hair was wet and sticking to his face and neck. She could see his knees pulled to his chest, his chin resting on his arms which crossed on his knees.

She recognized him immediately. It was Raxtus' in human form. His boyish fairy face and white blonde hair was easily identifiable in the handsome and more mature young man's face. His familiar icy blue eyes stared ahead unfocused. He seemed to be brooding. She was elated that besides being sad and sweaty he seemed to be okay.

"Raxtus is that you?" Kendra exclaimed. She moved closer to get a full view of the young man on the floor. He looked about 16 or 17 and lean but tough, his muscles were well defined. He was bare-chested and his legs were also bare but his former avatar only wore a loincloth so she didn't think anything of it. She saw the garden mud on his arms, hands, legs and feet then suddenly realized he wasn't wearing the loincloth she expected.

She turned her eyes upward quickly when she noticed he was naked.

"Oh my," she muttered blushing. She backed up so the kitchen table blocked her view of the majority of Raxtus.

"Yes it's me," Raxtus slowly mumbled, moving his forehead onto his arms no longer staring ahead.

"Are you okay?" She asked worried that perhaps he was injured. He wasn't moving around and seemed lethargic. She also couldn't understand why he was naked but it was very hot in there.

"I think so," he mumbled.

She turned to open a window, more cool air rushed into the room. Kendra relaxed and the first of thousand questions she had for him poured out.

"Where have you been? What have you been doing? Everyone's been so worried. We needed to tell you so many things and you just disappeared… and… and you're human…" Kendra's words spilled out of her.

"Yah, I guess so," he said still mumbling talking to the floor. He seemed very tired or depressed. "Someone forgot to tell me a lot of things."

"Why did you leave? Where did you go?" she asked. "We couldn't explain everything to you beforehand," Kendra blushed with embarrassment at their duplicity. He hadn't gotten full disclosure, but neither had she – really. "We checked on you, everyday, so we could talk to you but suddenly you were gone.

"Have you been in here all the time?" she asked. As soon as she said the words, she rejected them. He couldn't have gotten into the cabin as a dragon the wards would have prevented that besides the door was too small. She couldn't imagine wandering around naked but she wasn't a dragon or a boy, they did things she would never do. She focused only on his face. It seemed melancholy instead of his usually cheerful self.

"Am I human? I thought I was but… I am, aren't I." Raxtus asked and looked up at her for the first time and as she nodded repeatedly, in reply his expression suddenly changed. His eyes twinkled and he smiled sheepishly. He straightened his arms stretching and started to get up.

"Oh, wait, please, don't get up yet. Um... Here – put this around you," she said hurriedly and grabbed the tablecloth on the table in front of her, wadded it into a ball and tossed it at Raxtus trying not to look directly at him.

"Why?" He remained on the floor and caught the wad of cloth. He looked up at her averted face then looked down at himself.

"Oops, sorry Kendra, I didn't think about clothes," he apologized. His mood seemed to lighten more as he pulled the piece of cloth across him. "I was outside next to the porch and then I came in. I don't know why I chose this place but I'm glad the cabin was here.

"Being human size... and, uh, human… it feels… different. I'm feeling a little overwhelmed with strange emotions. I was lonely and feeling sad. Now you are here and I'm feeling happy," he said.

He smiled and she noticed it lit up his whole face making him even more handsome.

"But I didn't think about my lack of clothing – sorry," he sighed. "I guess I need to carry some clothes with me." He stood up holding the cloth out in front of him.

"Wrap it like this." She pantomimed the way she had wrapped the towel around her waist at the pool.

"Oh, okay." He looked down and moved the cloth around.

She quickly turned away as his awkward fumbling with the cloth threatened to embarrass her again. She walked over to a closed window and opened it. The rush of cooler air felt good in the warm room. The heat was much less than when she had first entered. The sweat that had begun to form on her face quickly dried.

He fought with the cloth for a moment and finally wrapped and tucked the cloth properly as she demonstrated. The wound on his side hurt now, he had almost forgotten about it. He couldn't heal himself so he needed help. He looked up a moment later to see her turned away, standing next to an open window.

"Done," he laughed, the air was much cooler with more windows open. The strange feeling of water running down his body had stopped; the sweat was drying now.

"But – you have dragon magic now – don't you? Doesn't it work the same way?" Kendra questioned him. "Navarog didn't show up naked when he changed into Gavin," she continued, looking over at him again. Pale as a ghost, she could see the blue lines of his veins but the contours of his muscles were perfect like a male model. She noticed the bright red gash on his flawless pale skin. Though the wound wasn't bleeding it the looked painful.

"I don't know! All my magic is gone. I can't feel it anymore. I don't feel any magic at all! Did you know that?" Raxtus asked his happy mood instantly disappeared. He threw his arms into the air gesturing his frustration. He sucked in air with pain and winced as he favored his wounded side and pressed his hand over the wound.

_Yes and no_, Kendra thought to herself, swallowing uncomfortably.

"How do you know you don't have any magic?" she asked.

"I tried to heal myself," he said gesturing to the gash on his ribs that had started seeping blood. "Nothing happened."

"It looks like it hurts, do you want me to bandage for you?" she asked.

"Would you? Please," he asked. He had never had a wound he couldn't heal and he had no idea how humans dealt with them.

The wound looked several days old and had started healing, but it was a deep cut and his movements had opened it. She knew if he had just invoked his avatar it couldn't be a wound he got recently, it had to be his dragon form that was initially injured.

Kendra went to the pantry and pulled out the first aid kit. She smeared an antiseptic cream on a large gauze pad and cut four strips of tape. She lightly placed the gooey gauze over the wound. She dried his still damp skin with a dishtowel and applied the adhesive tape.

"There all done," she said as she pressed down the last piece of tape to hold the bandage in place. "Well, dragon magic wouldn't heal you, but you are healing faster than a normal human," she said trying to be optimistic. She tried to get him to think positively about the lack of fairy magic. "So the spell removed the fairy magic and all you have now is dragon magic. That would be a good thing, wouldn't it?"

"I suppose," he said doubtfully. He moved his arm pulling against the wound. It was still painful. Wearing a bandage was not as good as being able to heal yourself. He pressed against the bandage and winced at the pain. Okay, don't do that, he said to himself.

He thought about what she said – no fairy magic. If he had any magic at all, it was dragon magic. He didn't know how that felt. He couldn't feel any magic inside him, at least not the way he felt his fairy magic.

"What did you do before? How did you happen to show up wearing a loincloth?" she asked soothingly, trying to be helpful and getting back to the original subject of clothing.

"I didn't think about it, I just had that silly loincloth on," he replied a little less angry but still waving his hands around.

Suddenly his eyes narrowed and he became more contemplative.

"Okay, then just think of a silly loincloth or something and see if you can get something to wear," Kendra suggested hoping that the tablecloth wrapped around his waist wouldn't slip while he gestured vigorously.

"I don't feel the dragon magic at all. It must be so different from fairy magic. I relied on fairy magic all my life but I'll try," he sighed, trying to remember what he had done.

"Well you've gotta have magic of some kind since you invoked your avatar so since you're going to try, try some real clothes. You know, people clothes," Kendra urged.

"Well, I guess I'll try for that." Raxtus closed his eyes. He stood with his hands on his hips thinking, trying to remember. At the moment all he could remember was that his avatar embarrassed him more than what it looked like or how he 'created' it.

Kendra could almost hear the wheels turning in his head. She watched him as he cocked his head from side to side and up and down as he searched his mind for what he was looking for. His muscles flexed as he moved around thinking. She couldn't help but notice how beautiful his slim body was, along with his handsome face. He's an amazing looking young man, she thought evaluating his new avatar.

He wrinkled his forehead. _Clothes!_ he thought. He opened one eye and peered down at himself. Nothing had occurred. He went back to searching his mind. He scrunched his face in a really ugly grimace and grunted – _clothes! _

"Nope that didn't work either," she giggled slightly embarrassed at her own thoughts.

"Hmm, I wonder," he mused looking over at Kendra. "Close your eyes just in case this doesn't work."

As soon as she closed her eyes, a flash of bright blue light filled the space. Raxtus stood next to the table totally naked, his skin and hair sweat-free. The table cloth and his newly applied bandage were at his feet covered in clumps of dried garden mud that no longer coated his legs and feet.

"Crud," he said and quickly reached down and picked up the tablecloth and wrapped it around him again. "Well I can't do it. I have no magic. How I can invoke my avatar is a mystery," he said disappointed.

He looked over at Kendra with her eyes still closed and said, "You can open your eyes now. I'm decent. I messed up, even the bandage came off."

"What did you try to do?" she asked, as she looked at his sudden mass of dry hair then the mess on the floor.

"I remembered that I always pictured myself wearing that stupid loincloth when I became my avatar and that's what I showed up wearing. It was worth a try but it didn't work. I'm glad I could just re-avatar myself without cycling through the big me. It would have gotten a little tight in here," He said a little sadly looking around the room.

"Well you need some clothes, let's see what there is here. She went to the dresser and opened a drawer. It was empty. She tried the next one.

"Ah ha!" she cried, several of Warren's old t-shirts and a pair of jeans lay neatly folded in the drawer. "The jeans will be too big around but better than a tablecloth. I think we can make a belt out of the rolled gauze and you can tighten it up," she said as she pulled out the jeans and one of the t-shirts and handed them to him.

She returned to the first aid kit and cut a length of gauze keeping her back to him as he dressed. "Here, thread this through the belt loops," she said and dangled the gauze over her shoulder without turning around.

He chuckled but took the gauze from her.

She made another bandage for his ribs while she was standing there. She put the tape on the bandage ahead of time, thinking she would just press it on quickly this time.

A moment later, he announced. "Well, they are on me. I'm dressed.".


	11. Becoming Human

Becoming Human

Based on characters from Fablehaven© by Brandon Mull. The original characters and plot details are my property. No copyright infringement intended.

She turned and looked at him. She had to laugh. He was a disaster. He was holding the loose jeans up with both hands. The large t-shirt half tucked into the jeans, the gauze belt threaded through the loops but dangled loosely on the side. He looked at her slightly embarrassed.

"I don't know how to tie a knot, never had thumbs," he laughed nervously.

She laughed and pulled the gauze tight on the side where he had left it hanging. She tied it snuggly around his waist so the jeans wouldn't slip off his narrow hips. Once she tied the belt tight, she pulled the t-shirt out over the jeans.

He watched her as she tied the knot but still didn't quite know how to do it, he would have to get a lesson later he thought. When she pulled the t-shirt out of the jeans, he felt the smooth cloth slide over his skin and it gave him tingles and bumps formed on his arms. He didn't understand why but it felt pleasant and made him smile.

"Thanks," he smiled at her as she looked back up at him.

Now that he was happy, the mood in the room was definitely much lighter. When she looked up at him, she realized he was very tall like Bracken. She turned and grabbed the bandage off the countertop.

"How did you get here?" Kendra asked as she waved the bandage at him. Warren's cabin was on the other side of the sanctuary miles away from the little barn.

"Where is here?" Raxtus asked looking around the one small room knowing he wouldn't find anything familiar about it. He pulled up the t-shirt to expose his wound and watched again as Kendra quickly laid the bandage in place.

"You don't know where you are?" Kendra asked surprised, pressing the tape against his skin.

"No! If I knew I wouldn't ask," he said curtly. He jerked the t-shirt down over his jeans feeling some of his earlier frustration. His wound twitched and he felt ridiculous for the unfair outburst.

Then she realized that although Raxtus was friends with Warren he had never been inside Warren's cabin. Raxtus had never been inside any of the houses before as a dragon he was too big to get through the door.

"Sorry, I didn't think. You're in Warren's cabin," she said quietly.

"Really? Huh! I wonder why I came here," he said puzzled. "So what were you doing here?"

"I was going to straighten it up, dust, sweep, that sort of thing. Warren is coming back for a visit," she shrugged.

"Warren has been gone for a while. I haven't seen him since last summer. How is he?" he asked curiously.

"He's doing well. It will be good to see him," she replied.

"Yes it will, won't he be surprised when he sees me!" He laughed for a second and then got serious again. "Okay! I need to figure out what I was doing here. Let me help you straighten the place up. Maybe it will jog my memory," he said looking around uncertain what 'dust' or 'sweep' meant.

"Seen Bracken lately?" he asked cheerfully, and then he looked confused. "Wait a minute…" he glared at her, "You don't glow anymore!"

"Yes, I do," she said indignantly, though she couldn't 'see' it she knew she still glowed with the light of fairy magic. "Oh, but _you_ can't see it anymore," she said sadly. "Neither humans nor regular dragons see the fairylight."

"Oh," he said sullenly. "I won't hear fairies any more or the Fairy Queen? That means I won't be able to travel using her shrines. I kind of knew it might happen but I didn't think about it too hard. What good will I do? I won't be able to travel for the Fairy Queen anymore," he moaned, his face returning to his earlier gloomy expression.

"You should still be able to hear the fairies and the Fairy Queen. She wouldn't take that from you. You won't be able to use the shrines, that part is true. Well... as compensation maybe you will get new breath weapons. You know awesome fire breathing or something," she said trying to be optimistic.

"Do you think so?" he said brightly then he became glum again. "I don't know if I will get any new powers and I have lost the powers I had. I'm still pretty clueless about dragon magic. Do you know why I lost the fairy magic?"

"Plus you can walk around like a normal person. No one will know who or what you are. I was told that a dragon in human form was a perfect disguise," she said avoiding the fairy magic question.

Kendra said the one thing that immediately got Raxtus' attention – 'normal'.

Raxtus started thinking about walking around like a 'normal' person, which definitely sounded appealing. Now he was a normal human not the runt dragon or the focus of ridicule. No one knew who he was except Kendra. That was good, that was very good.

Being a runt dragon breathing fire didn't sound particularly tempting. They would probably make fun of him anyway or possibly challenge him and kill him in a fight. He might feel different if he was in his dragon form but the thought of staying human sounded more attractive right now. How long would it take to learn to be a normal human, not a just dragon pretending to be human?

"Who was your guide? You just disappeared and we didn't know where you had gone," Kendra asked after a few moments when he didn't reply.

"My guide?" Raxtus asked confused.

"Uh-huh. Your dad told Bracken you would have a guide to teach you about your dragon magic after you had rested," she explained.

"How long did I rest before I disappeared? It doesn't look like you are too much older." He looked closely at her.

"Only a few weeks. Why? Did you expect to be resting longer?" Kendra asked surprised at his statement.

"Actually, I didn't know I was going to sleep. No one told me to expect anything," he said accusingly. "I realize that I could have easily slept for twenty years. It's nothing to a dragon. I'm glad that I woke up sooner. I would have missed you guys a lot," he said contemplating the situation. His stomach grumbled and he rubbed at it unconsciously.

"Watching you sleeping for twenty years would have been excruciating, three weeks was bad enough. I have been so worried about you. You left the safety of the warded building and have been missing a little over a month," she confessed. "That's why I was so glad to see you."

"Missing for a month?" he said puzzled. He didn't realize he had roamed around that long. "But I had no guide. I have no magic." He shook his head and frowned. "I woke up alone and trotted my sleepy dragon butt out of there and took a nap in the swamp. I wiggled deep into the soft muck and just went back to sleep. After a while a swamp troll took exception to me being there and started to make himself a nuisance so I left. I was sleepy but really didn't want to eat a nasty swamp troll. Have you ever...? No, never mind." He looked up at Kendra's grimace and stopped his sentence. His stomach grumbled again.

Kendra gagged at the thought of smelling one much less eating a stinking swamp troll. She guessed from his reaction even a dragon would have been sick.

"Have you eaten anything lately?" she asked listening to his stomach growl for a third time.

"No, I haven't. I passed on the swamp troll but didn't look for anything else. I wasn't thinking about food while I was in here," he frowned and rubbed his stomach. "I was never my fairy avatar long enough to need to eat like the fairies do. This is human hunger? It's uncomfortable, different."

"Yes, it still comes with its own alarm system," she laughed remembering hearing his dragon stomach grumble a few times before. "Well, I brought something for me to eat. I think you need it more than I do right now. I know you haven't eaten in over a month. That's too long even for a dragon," Kendra told him. She pulled the day pack off her shoulder, set it on the table and unzipped it and started rummaging inside it.

"I am feeling a little shaky now that I think of it. What have you got in there?" He asked. Curious, he leaned over the table to see what she was doing. His stomach continued to grumble.

"Yeah, you need to raise your blood sugar. How about a ham sandwich…," she offered. She unwrapped and held out the sandwich, "and some carrots."

"Anything," he said and took the offered sandwich. He bit into it with anticipation. "Mmm." He rolled his eyes with satisfaction at the flavor of the sandwich.

She tore open the package of carrots and tossed it on the table in front of him. He sat in a chair and grabbed a carrot from the bag and tossed it into his mouth between bites of the sandwich. He smacked his lips as he chewed with his mouth open.

"Mouth closed, please," she said habitually, when she heard the sound of smacking lips.

"Mouth closed?" he asked. "What does that mean?"

"Oh! Sorry! I'm use to correcting Seth," she said blushing with embarrassment.

"What's that about?" he asked with his mouth full and he was still chewing noisily.

"It's kind of a good manners thing, not making noise when you eat. You don't eat with your mouth open or smack you lips," she replied, shrugged her shoulders and grimaced at her slip-up.

"I guess I will need to know things like that won't I?" he said thoughtfully and swallowed his mouthful of food, "if I am going to be a human with good manners."

"Yes, I suppose so," she admitted.

"Tell me if I do something wrong. Please… I don't want to be a terrible human now that I have a perfectly good human body to run around in," he asked with his mouth empty.

He returned to eating his sandwich making sure he chewed with his mouth closed.

"I've got some juice too," she said and set a large bottle of mixed fruit juice on the table. She walked the few steps to the kitchen cabinet and took out two glasses. She poured out a glass for him and pushed it toward him then poured one for herself.

He continued to chew the food in his mouth absently as he attentively watched her pour the reddish liquid into the glasses. He pulled the glass of juice toward himself and took a sip and nodded approvingly.

"Being an omnivore isn't too bad," he said as he finished the sandwich. He started on the crunchy carrot sticks and his glass of juice. The feel, taste and texture of food and the sweet tartness of the juice in his mouth were new experiences. Everything was new and wonderful.

Kendra remembered dragons were totally carnivorous. They usually ate their prey in one or two bites and didn't chew a whole lot. They crunched the bigger bones in half but that was about all.

"Chew your food thoroughly. It is part of our digestion process. Um… quick tip in the manners department don't talk with food in your mouth, swallow first and don't slurp your drink," she said smiling. "That should do it for eating with your hands. There is a whole bunch of rules for eating with utensils." She held up a fork that was sitting on the nearby counter and waved it at him, grinning.

"Umm…" he groaned and rolled his eyes but continued to eat, chewing a bit longer this time.

Kendra laughed at his comment. She sat down also and watched him devour the entire bag of carrots as she sipped on her juice. She looked into her pack and pulled out a small apple and a cup of pudding and set them in front of him.

"Yum, sweet," he said as he finished his first bite of apple.

"Don't eat the seeds in the core, they are bitter," she told him before he took another bite.

Raxtus ate the small apple in four large but well chewed bites. Then he poured the rest of the bottle of juice into his glass and drank it all. The strange package of food sat untouched. He was uncertain how to open it and unsure how to eat what it contained if he got it opened.

"I think that will hold me for a while. Thanks Kendra. I didn't realize that I needed to eat so badly," he sighed with relief and smiled at her. He felt his stomach, now filled with food, rumble again making different noises.

He felt strangely comfortable sitting in a chair at a table, something he had never done before. He ran his hands over the smooth wood of the table noticing the feel with his human fingertips. So many new sensations bombarding his body, both internally and externally, it was almost overwhelming.

"So what did you do after not eating the swamp troll?" Kendra asked, getting back to his story of how he got to the cabin.

"I just wandered around for a while. I had no idea that it had been a month. Everything was kind of fuzzy and I was so sleepy, I probably slept most of the time away. I remembered that I was supposed to have a new avatar so I think I tried it. I had no idea what I would look like," he grimaced and shivered. "I'm an idiot.

"It is very difficult to remember especially as sleepy and uncertain as I was. I don't even know what even drove me to try. I wanted to be so precise, think about it and get it just right. So I what did I do? I invoked in my sleep, idiot!" he shrugged and shook his head. "I hope I didn't mess up too badly. How did I do?" he asked shyly and stood up for her to inspect his new avatar, though she already had been staring at him for the last hour.

"Sit down, Raxtus. You look great. You did a good job. I knew it was you because you look a lot like your fairy avatar but in a more mature human form. I know you will hate this… but you're really very… cute," Kendra said blushing because she had seen him naked, well almost all of him. His fortunately positioned muddy ankle had kept her from seeing all of him as she looked over the table at him.

If I didn't have Bracken I'd consider you as boyfriend material, she thought. She knew he was sweet. Now he was super cute… dragon or not.

"Really?" he blushed. His cheeks flushed light pink and Kendra thought that made him even cuter.

"Yes, really," Kendra said appraising him with a thorough look-over from head to foot. He blushed again at her examination and hurried to sit back down.

"I'm not sure what it is. You have beautiful eyes but I think it's the messy white blonde hair and your slim build," Kendra nodded her head suppressing a giggle.

"Huh, I didn't know." He smoothed his shirt over his baggy jeans, smiling. "I guess I did okay then. Did I guess my age correctly? How old do I look?" He was pleased with Kendra's assessment of his new avatar. It sure beat the wimpy fairy boy or runt of a dragon by miles. He could run around like this and not feel self conscious but he didn't want to draw too much attention either.

"Yeah, well, you did _very_ okay. You look about Seth's age, sixteen or seventeen," she answered honestly. "Raxtus, I have a question. Why did you invoke your avatar here? It's a good place, safe for humans and all. But how did you know about it?" she asked curious.

"I don't remember. I honestly don't really remember invoking my avatar everything was so fuzzy. I was still sleepy. I don't know, I guess I did it because here I am." He couldn't really remember it was like a fading dream. The further he got from the actual experience the less he remembered.

"What was I doing after the spell?" he asked watching her attentively.

Kendra thought he seemed bewildered and hesitant as if he really couldn't remember invoking his avatar; he was even hazier than when she first arrived.

"Your little fairy avatar looked so awful before Bracken flashed you back to a dragon." Kendra's eyes filled with tears as she thought of the withered wings and his gray pallor.

"How did he do that?" he asked intensely interested.

"He laid one of his horns across your body and you turned back into yourself. I'm not sure exactly how he did it because I was kind of in shock," she admitted wiping the tears away.

"Oh!" he drew a quick startled breath. "I remember it was so cold. The opposite of what your magic felt like. I was falling or shrinking… it was so awful. I wanted you to stop but Bracken said you couldn't," he shook his head at the fading memory. "I felt myself crumbling before I passed out. I think that's when I lost the fairy magic. I don't know what would have happened to me if Bracken hadn't turned me back," he said, his eyes were distant and unfocused.

"I remember the table broke under your weight and scented smoke covered you and then you were dreaming," she continued her own memory of after the spell was unclear. "Your eyes were moving around under your lids a lot. That was the only thing moving that's why I noticed. I kept watching, waiting for you to wake up but you kept sleeping and dreaming," she said with more confidence, since she had watched him dream for three weeks. "We waited but we didn't keep a twenty-four hour watch on you, sorry.

"What were you dreaming about?" she asked softly.

"I don't know," he whispered, wondering what she had seen after he passed out and what the scented smoke was.

"I don't remember… I don't remember a lot," he suddenly said loud and frustrated, his hands flying again. "I need to find out why I was drawn here though. I do know that much – that I was drawn here. What do you know about this place?"

"It's been here a long time. Dale moved Warren in here when he was catatonic but it was empty for lots of years. I vaguely remember something about it but not enough to say for sure. We need to ask Grandma Sorenson if there is a record of who built it and all those who lived here," Kendra suggested.

"Okay, let's get to work so we can go ask." He volunteered, looking around for something to do.

"He won't be here for a couple of days. I have time to finish straightening up later. Let's go ask now," she said enthusiastically.

"How did you get here?" Raxtus asked eager find some information it gave him a focus.

"I walked," Kendra said with a sigh.

"I haven't been in here before but I do remember where this cabin is and it's a long walk back to the house. How about we take a quick flight instead?" Raxtus' eyes twinkled with mischief.

"Why not," Kendra said enthusiastically. "Do you want me to make another bandage?"

"No it doesn't help that much," he shrugged, patted his side and winced once before his mischievous smile returned.

She smiled, happy to see Raxtus acting more like his old dragon self. She packed up her day pack and walked out the door. He followed.

"Agad said changing back and forth from dragon to human was disorienting, but Navarog didn't seem to have any trouble. Wonder what Agad's problem was?" Kendra said remembering her conversation with both the shape shifting dragon and the wizard.

"I guess I will find out," Raxtus shrugged, he didn't seem worried.


	12. Quick Flight

Quick Flight

Based on characters from Fablehaven© by Brandon Mull. The original characters and plot details are my property. No copyright infringement intended.

She stopped as they both stood just outside the door on the porch. She turned and pulled him into a hug. "Raxtus I'm so glad I found you. I was beside myself I was so worried," she said.

Raxtus stood still. He was unsure of what to do he had never felt contact like this with any one while in avatar form. He wasn't familiar with having two arms around him or having arms that could hug back. She was warm, soft and smelled good. His physical reaction to her hug surprised him. He wanted to return the hug so he slowly wrapped his arms around her. With his hands he felt her warmth, the fabric of her shirt, her soft skin and toned muscles and even her bones underneath. Her body pressed against his felt wonderful.

"I've never done this before," he laughed but his mind was racing. He was feeling human emotions. Hormones were flowing through his body. His brain and body were reacting to them. This was unlike anything he had ever experienced as a dragon. Confused, slightly uncomfortable and a little too excited he fell back on his intellect (what there was of it). He knew from the movies he had watched that some touching was okay between friends, some was not. This was okay touching, and it was nice, very nice.

What would it feel like to stay this way for a while? To be immersed in the sensations and emotions of being human. The way Bracken had to do. The way any dragon did when in human form, the way he was now.

Kendra said he looked handsome. He could walk around without being self-conscious. He was thrilled at all the feelings that he was having interacting with Kendra. They were so different from his dragon feelings and emotions. He never stayed in his other avatar form for very long and was so embarrassed the entire time; he never knew how he felt. This was interesting and fun. He felt great for a change.

"Thanks Kendra, I'm glad you found me too. Let's go find someone to help us." He dropped his arms and she did too. He blushed again, which was another intense feeling. His body wanted more of all these new sensations, eating, blushing, hugging. His mind, flush with hormones it had no idea how to cope with, agreed with it. He was enjoying himself.

Raxtus walked off the porch and continued about twenty feet further. With a brilliant flash of light a silvery white dragon appeared where the tall young man had stood. His clothes lay rumpled on the ground at his very large feet.

"I'll be right back," he said as a strange expression flashed in his dragon eyes. He raced into the woods for a few minutes.

Kendra laughed at him, wondering what he was doing. She heard the dragon sigh from nearby and laughed again. Getting rid of more than a few days worth of dragon pee? she wondered, amused. She picked up his clothes and folded them. He would need them when he changed back. She untied the gauze belt thinking he would need to dress fast.

Kendra thought it must be strange to have two distinct and separate bodies. Did they function as one or were they only active when you were in them? She would never know and it was unlikely he could explain it so she could understand.

"I guess I need to learn how to do that as humans do, it might get embarrassing not knowing what to do," he said when he returned.

"I think someone other than me needs to talk to you about that, maybe Seth or Bracken," Kendra laughed, seeing his relief. She knew what he was talking about and just how embarrassing that conversation would be for both of them. "There are things that boys and girls don't… uh… share or talk about."

"I know I have a lot to learn. I never spent any length of time as anything other than a dragon so this should be interesting. I've watched a lot of movies and TV but they don't cover such things," he admitted. He immediately noticed the vast difference the change to his dragon form had on him intellectually, emotionally and physically.

Kendra chuckled. Raxtus watched family movies and old sitcoms with Doren and Newel in the TV shack. He didn't watch anything else, he wasn't interested. Kendra had always thought of him as a young childlike dragon, even younger than the teenage boy he had become.

Kendra loved the way Raxtus' familiar dragon voice sounded. It was rich and multi-toned and so different from his human but very pleasant voice.

"How was the change back into a dragon? Any problems?" she asked still chuckling.

"No real disorientation in changing, it's just very different." The heightened emotions were gone, he thought sadly. He still liked Kendra but it was such a different feeling now. This was very familiar and dull the other was new and exciting.

"Ready?" he asked as he walked on his four feet back toward the cabin. He almost felt clumsy on his clawed feet; suddenly he felt awkward as his dragon ego asserted itself on his mind, his confidence fell and his distaste for his lowly status as the runt dragon reemerged. Only the thought of flying with Kendra kept him from regretting changing his form back into a dragon. He couldn't wait to change back and feel the difference; it was fading already.

"Sure," Kendra said as she stepped toward Raxtus. She pulled her daypack to her front clutching it and his clothes securely against her chest and turned her back to him. She craned her neck to look up at him still smiling as he towered over her. She reached up and Raxtus nuzzled her warm hand, but it wasn't the same her fairy magic didn't warm him. The spell had disconnected him from her and he didn't like it. Being a dragon had never been much fun but sharing the fairy magic with Kendra had brought him happiness, now it was gone.

"I'm glad you didn't take on the dreadful dragonfear of most other dragons," she said still looking up at him. He pulled his face away from her hand.

He gently grasped her around the waist, his wings unfolding into the air. He felt her warm body in his grasp wishing that he was hugging her instead of holding her like prey. But they were flying together, he held on to the joy of that thought. Pulling great sweeps of air, they rose from the ground. He arched his neck uncomfortably so he could speak to her without yelling.

"Dad told me once that the dragonfear was a voluntary reflex. I can control it. It wouldn't be fun to suddenly be causing distress," he replied but truthfully, he couldn't feel any new dragon magic at all. It worried him a little.

Raxtus loved flying. He stretched back into a comfortable position and soared through the air feeling the freedom of the wind beneath his wings. He didn't feel awkward now. He felt wonderful but he couldn't wait to feel the way he had felt when he was human. He wanted to get to the house fast and change back. He couldn't share fairy magic with Kendra any more but their relationship had changed, he was her human friend now and that brought him even more happiness.

Being a dragon, at least this dragon, came with a huge load of emotional baggage. He could feel it seeping into every happy thought tainting it. He didn't know if he wanted to change back into a dragon again if this was going to be the feeling. He had spent most of the last few hundred years invisible so he wouldn't have to put up with the contempt, bullying and occasional torture he had endured for centuries from other dragons and they hadn't even know about his pitiful avatar. If it wasn't for the fact that Celebrant was his father, he was sure they would have killed him. Dragons weren't tolerant of weakness and they considered him weak because he was small. Even the joy of flying wasn't worth this other kind of discomfort.

It was only lately since he had met Kendra, Seth and reconnected with Bracken that he had become visible more often, usually only in Fablehaven. He had friends now. With his new avatar, he could just be human like them and stay with his friends.

Kendra always loved flying with Raxtus. It was fun. She felt like she was flying like a bird. His hold on her was firm but not uncomfortable so she felt safe. She had an unobstructed view of everything below. The path she had walked to get to the cabin looked long and dusty. The treetops were just below her feet and the birds scattered as they flew by. Flying was much nicer than walking.

She could tell that Raxtus was in a hurry. He flew straight and fast toward the house, no detours or fancy flying, which was kind of disappointing. She liked it when he was showing off, making flying exciting and better than any roller coaster ride.

It didn't take very long for Kendra to see the huge barn and the main house in the distance. She saw a few fairies as they quickly flew past. They flew over the big barn. She saw the garden then spotted Seth in the pool. He didn't see them though.

As she got closer to the ground she could see Seth swimming across to the other side of the pool. She lost her view of him because they were landing on the other side of the tall hedge.

Kendra's feet hit the ground softly and before she could turn around light flashed from behind her.

Raxtus changed as soon as he had Kendra safely on the ground. Standing naked in the garden, he suddenly realized his oversight.

"Your clothes," she whispered and held them behind her back. "Seth didn't see us fly over."

"Thanks," Raxtus gratefully grabbed the clothes and hurriedly slid into the jeans first and then pulled on the t-shirt. "Maybe not but he saw the flash. I'm dressed," Raxtus said relieved. He could hear Seth's bare feet slapping on the concrete as he rushed to where they were.

She finished turning around and Raxtus was trying unsuccessfully to tie the gauze belt. She quickly took the ends and turned him so he was between her and where Seth would appear. If Seth came around the corner before she finished the knot he wouldn't see what she was doing. She pulled the gauze tight, tied a fast bow and stepped back.

Raxtus smoothed his t-shirt over his jeans again.

Seth came running around the tall hedge dripping wet. "Hey, where did Raxtus go?" Seth asked, looking around the garden, his smile falling from his face. "Who's the dude?" He looked disappointed.

"I'm right here," Raxtus said quietly as he turn toward him and grinned.

Seth stared up at him for a moment. Several emotions played across his face as he turned and gazed across the empty expanse of the lawn.

"Ah, no," he denied the stranger. "Raxtus are you invisible out there and playing tricks on me?" He looked at the empty yard then at Kendra.

She smiled knowingly.

Raxtus shook his head smiling.

"It's really him," she nodded.

"Raxtus?" he said dubiously.

"Yup it's me." He grinned and nodded his head.

"Oh! Man! The spell worked," Seth said smiling suddenly realizing what was going on. "Nice avatar. You look just like a real person."


	13. Change of Plans

Change of Plans

Based on characters from Fablehaven© by Brandon Mull. The original characters and plot details are my property. No copyright infringement intended.

"Where's Grandma or Grandpa?" Kendra asked Seth.

"Grandma is in the house with Mom. Grandpa is out with Dad and Dale doing routine maintenance stuff and looking for Raxtus," Seth said, still awed by Raxtus' change. He was looking over his friend's new appearance trying to get use to Raxtus the regular guy instead of the little dragon.

"Oh, we should let everyone know that we found you," Kendra said.

"No! Not yet," Raxtus shook his head, suddenly guarded. "I'm not ready for everyone to know I've been found." He realized the way that Seth greeted him that the less people who knew about him the better. He wasn't ready to reveal that he was the avatar of Raxtus the pathetic dragon. At the moment he was just a normal person. It felt better this way.

"I'm sure lots of creatures saw you and me fly over just now," Kendra declared. "All the fairies in the garden saw you. I'm surprised that they aren't all over you? Where are they?" She looked around the yard and couldn't see a fairy anywhere.

"But they only saw the dragon," Raxtus' voice lowered into a whisper. "Maybe a few fairies saw me change, but they will only come tell you guy's. Right?

"Look, I want to understand some things first before we go announcing that I'm found and the spell worked. I'd like to keep it secret for a while that I have a human avatar. Can't I be just one of your friends for a while?" Raxtus asked pleadingly.

"Sure that would be okay with me," Seth answered enthusiastically, ready to perpetrate a hoax at any time. "What is the smallest group that needs to know? Me and Kendra… cause we already know. Then who else can know… Grandma and Grandpa? Bracken? The Fairy Queen?" he listed off names watching Raxtus face for clues.

"I'd like to keep the list short, maybe just you two and Bracken. You can't call me by my name," he said shaking his head. "I'll need another one. Have you got any suggestions?" he asked Seth.

Kendra just stood there gawking at the two schemers, thinking that this was doomed to failure. It was obvious by his statement that he had been thinking about this the entire trip from the cabin. Kendra was surprised that he hadn't disappeared during the flight to keep his secret.

Where were all the fairies that should be in the yard? She looked around the garden again and there wasn't a fairy to be seen anywhere. That was very strange.

Seth liked the new Raxtus. He was going to be fun. Conning everyone into believing he was someone else was going to be so cool. They would never suspect a thing, mainly because there wasn't a reason to suspect anything.

"A name? Hmm…. How does Leander sound? I had a friend with white blonde hair named Leander in the third grade. I like the name Day too. It's kinda neat and strange," he suggested, thinking of the online character he created who had blue eyes and white hair.

"Oooo… put them together. How about Leander Day?" Seth proposed.

"Just as good as any, I guess. Kendra do you have a suggestion?" he asked her.

"No, I don't. It may seem strange but you look like a Leander," Kendra said looking at Raxtus appraisingly. For some reason Kendra remembered that Leander meant lion in Greek. Raxtus looked leonine with his shaggy white mane of unruly hair.

"Then it will do for me," he said smiling. He was happy again. The depressing dragon ego burned away with the flush of human hormones and emotions. His eager teenage body and mind were aching for the adventure of being 'normal'.

"Hi Kendra. Seth. Who's your friend?" Bracken called from behind them.

The three spun around guiltily. Bracken was in the deep shadow of the forest path when he called. He was dressed all in white, and as he walked through the hedge gap into the treeless garden yard he and his long white hair glowed blindingly as the bright sunlight hit him.

"Bracken!" Kendra ran to him and they wrapped each other in a hug. "What are you doing here?" She pulled away and looked at him suspiciously. "I thought you were gone – unavailable," she accused and held him at arm's length for only a moment before she snuggled close to him and took his hand in both of hers.

"I was… but fairies came to the shrine and relayed the message that a small silver dragon was flying over Fablehaven and others reported that he had landed here in the garden," he explained, squeezing her hand lightly as they walked toward Seth and the stranger.

"I thought that I should come. They abandoned the garden at once thinking it was Raxtus. They are all at the shrine apprehensively waiting on my return, hoping they didn't get too close to him. They are still under the impression that I didn't want them around him at all. I didn't tell them otherwise. I wanted to see what was happening," Bracken laughed eyeing the young man suspiciously. He looked uncannily like a large version of Raxtus' fairy avatar, minus the wings.

"That's why there aren't any fairies in the yard. They saw Raxtus and left," Kendra smiled at Raxtus from beside Bracken.

"Bracken this is Leander Day," Seth introduced the two. He leaned toward Bracken and whispered, "It's Raxtus."

"Nice to meet you. Leander is it?" Bracken reached out to shake hands with Leander. He nodded, of course it's Raxtus in his human form, but why a new name?

"Yes, it's Leander. Nice to meet you too, Bracken," Leander smiled shyly at him and shook his hand briefly.

With the brief handshake, Bracken could feel Leander's open and honest feelings of happiness.

"Wow, I guess your secret is still a secret," Kendra whispered, amazed that somehow he had gotten his wish.

"You two look enough alike to be brothers," Seth said glancing back and forth comparing their features. "Except for the eyes."

Bracken's were a silvery blue and Leander's were pale glacial blue.

"Secret? What is going on?" Bracken asked, confused.

"I'd rather just be a human friend right now and not the dragon's avatar. Is that okay with you?" Leander asked Bracken speaking softly.

Bracken thought he seemed afraid for some reason.

"What are you going to tell everyone? People just don't walk into Fablehaven," Bracken said sternly. "Your name had to be written in the register to gain entrance into the sanctuary, at least if you came through the front gate. The fairies thought they saw Raxtus. Where did he go if not here?"

Bracken watched as Leander's expression went from happy and open to gloomy and introspect. Bracken wondered what made him so nervous about revealing himself. True they had kept it a secret that they were going to try to change his avatar but it had worked. He should be happily revealing it to all his friends. He wanted to find out what was making him act this way but out here in the open wasn't the place to have that discussion.

"Well," Seth said already scheming and looking devious as usual. "You look enough alike to be brothers, how about cousins? You could be Bracken's unicorn cousin. You got in through the fairy shrine with Bracken. Fairy friends do that all the time – right? As for Raxtus he went invisible and took off for parts unknown after dropping Kendra off here."

"My cousins are all well known, Seth and the fairies know I came alone," Bracken said rolling his eyes at Seth. "But I think you may be on the right track as far as Raxtus' whereabouts goes. Let's get out of the open before someone sees us." Bracken looked around the yard; there was no one around.

The group headed to the house for more privacy. No one was in the main room so they quietly headed up to the third floor where Seth now had the whole attic room to himself. The room was the former nursery and specially warded to protect children. Since none of them were precisely adults the wards held and no one could overhear or spy on them, though technically Bracken's personal shield was effective even in the garden. This way they were also able to scheme in anonymity, only they knew of Leander's presence in Fablehaven.

"Why do you want to keep this a secret?" Bracken asked as they closed the door.

"I just want to be normal for a while, see how it feels. If everyone knows I'm Raxtus, they will expect me to go back to being a dragon most of the time but I don't want to do that. Can you understand?" he pleaded with Bracken. "This will be the first time in my life I've been anywhere close to normal. I want to enjoy it without a connection to the runt dragon.

"But my fairy magic is all gone," Leander said puzzled and upset.

Kendra noticed that everything he was feeling was very obvious on his face. His face flashed anger, sadness and happiness all within seconds. It was hard to keep up.

"Yes, the fairy magic is gone. The spell deleted it, but you have your human avatar," Bracken said encouragingly. "We knew that there was a big difference between fairy magic and dragon magic but we didn't know if the two types of magic would work at the same time. Since you had no breath weapons and there were other dragon magic things you couldn't do we assumed that the fairy magic either negated or forced your dragon magic into dormancy. I guess we were at least partially wrong since invoking an avatar and reverting to a dragon is part of dragon magic. You have been doing some dragon magic all along," he said with an apologetic shrug. He moved to the table in the center of the room and sat down.

Seth pulled some clothes from his dresser and stood in his wet swim shorts listening to the conversation.

"But I don't feel any magic at all. Could I invoke an avatar simply because I'm a dragon?" he asked bluntly.

"I don't know," Bracken answered honestly. It was an interesting question that he truthfully didn't know the answer to. He had never heard of a dragon without any magical abilities before. Then he thought an unpleasant thought, they probably didn't live very long, dragons were brutal.

"Don't do anything or say anything until I come back," Seth told them. He disappeared into his closet.

"Bracken, will you heal Leander; he has a bad wound on his side," Kendra asked.

"Sure, what happened?" Bracken asked.

"Oh yeah, I guess that would help, huh!" Leander sighed and pulled up his t-shirt. The area around the gash was red and it was healing poorly but no blood seeped from it.

"How did you get that?" Bracken asked but he placed his hands on either side of the partially healed gash not waiting for the answer. It shrunk into a thin red line.

"Swamp troll, I think," he answered with a relieved sigh pulling his t-shirt down.

Seth opened the closet door wearing shorts and a t-shirt. He dropped his wet shorts on the hamper and hopped on his bed. "Okay," he said gesturing magnanimously giving them permission to continue the conversation. He relaxed against the pillows.

They all turned and looked at him.

"What?" he asked, "did I miss something?"

They smiled at him and then Kendra turned back to Leander.

"What?" Seth asked again, now suspicious that he missed something important.

"Can you turn invisible?" Kendra asked Leander, taking a chair next to Bracken.

"I've never tried to be invisible when I wasn't a dragon. I wonder if I can. I wonder if it was fairy magic," Leander cringed. He stood holding the back of the chair next to Kendra.

"Just try it. Can you go invisible now?" Kendra asked casually, seeing the panicked look on his face.

Leander took a deep breath, a weak smile crossed his face, and then he was gone.

"All right! You're invisible Leander," Seth laughed and sat up. He didn't miss anything earlier he consoled himself. They were just messing with him.

"Cool," his voice came from nowhere and everywhere.

"Yah, way cool! Say something else," Seth instructed.

"Um… something else?" the disembodied voice said and soft laughter filled the room.

"I can't tell where you are from your voice. It is all around me. I can't pinpoint your location," Seth said impressed with the trick.

"Can you hear me whisper to Kendra?" The soft whisper tickled her ear but she looked at Seth and saw that he did not hear it.

"You can't tell if I'm right next to you or across the room?" Leander's voice was everywhere.

"No, I can't," Seth said swiveling his head looking around the room.

"I'm right here," Leander said and suddenly appeared sitting next to Seth on the edge of his bed. Startled Seth flinched and tumbled off onto the floor.

Kendra and Bracken laughed as Leander reached out his hand to help Seth up from the floor.

"Scared me," Seth said stating the obvious reaching up for the offered hand. "That doesn't happen often." It took a lot to surprise Seth.

He walked with Leander to the table. They both pulled out chairs and sat with Bracken and Kendra.

"We couldn't hear you walking or moving around. You were silent," Kendra said still chuckling at Seth's embarrassment.

"Man I wish I could do that too. I didn't even feel you move the bed to sit next to me. All I can do is shade walk and that takes darkness and shadows and I still have to be quiet."

Seth was obviously jealous of the invisibility. He didn't know how to use his newest skill and wasn't up for experimenting yet. It was one thing for a dragon to be invisible but as a human, that was something spectacular, at least to Seth.


	14. Helping a Friend

Helping a Friend

Based on characters from Fablehaven© by Brandon Mull. The original characters and plot details are my property. No copyright infringement intended.

"You didn't get a guide to help you with your magic?" Bracken asked,

"No I don't think it was a guide, but I remember that there was someone in my dreams helping me," Leander said thoughtfully. "I have to find her." He had a faraway look on his face.

"Dreams? Who?" Kendra asked.

"The girl reminded me to invoke my avatar. She needs my help but I don't even have a clue where to find her," he said again the puzzled look took over his face.

"A girl in your dreams knew about your avatar. But she wasn't your guide? How did she find you to help you if she is lost?" Bracken was skeptical. Dragon's weren't supposed to be psychic. Maybe he just had a vivid dream brought on by the spell.

"She's connected to that cabin somehow. That's why I stayed there," he said hesitantly.

Leander stared into space remembering, his eyes narrowing as he thought back to his experience… a memory he shared with Raxtus.

"She was in my dreams in the swamp, I think, and she asked me to find her. Then I wandered around but I was so sleepy. It was when I got close to the cabin that I heard her again. I remembered that I needed to do something. Then I invoked my avatar but it was different from before – more powerful. I changed and look as you see me now."

Fortunately, he saw Kendra blush, and he remembered to leave out the part of being naked when he invoked his new form and of Kendra finding him that way. Leander felt a strange excitement having a secret that only the two of them shared. He blushed slightly at the feeling. He could sense the heat in his cheeks.

"You couldn't remember any of this earlier," She quickly returned to her normal color when he didn't say anything about how she found him but she noticed his flush of color as he glanced at her. "I wonder if the wards in this room are letting him have his true memories," Kendra asked looking to Bracken for answers.

"Maybe so, I'm not sure," he answered distractedly not even looking at her. He was obviously thinking very hard about what Leander had said. "I think you are right that she wasn't your guide. She wouldn't be lost and asking for help if she was assigned as a guide to help you discover your dragon magic." Bracken was confused, was it real or just a dream.

"Ok! So we need to find someone who is connected with the cabin that might have insight to dragon abilities and who also disappeared mysteriously," Bracken said, thinking out loud.

"She could be a ghost or a spirit," Seth added.

Bracken considered that possibility. It made more sense to him than a psychic link to an adult dragon.

"I didn't feel anything evil in the cabin while we were there," Kendra said shaking her head.

"Ghosts don't have to be evil Kendra," Seth said somewhat indignantly.

She shrugged. "I guess we need to ask Grandma Ruth since she has access to the sanctuary history," Kendra suggested. "But we need to come up with Leander's explanation too. Who is he and why is he here."

"I didn't think it would be hard to come up with a _reasonable_ justification," Bracken added looking at Seth.

Leander looked expectantly at Seth too.

"Seth you are great at stories. Come up with one that Bracken can't shoot down," Kendra scoffed at her brother.

"I'm thinking," he said obviously thinking. He narrowed his eyes and twisted his mouth as he thought. "You could disappear and go out the front gate with us and then we could get Grandma to add your name to the registry as Leander. Then you can come back in. Raxtus can already get in and out can't he?" Seth rambled on. "Wait… can you? You have only come in through the Fairy Queen's shrine. Does it matter if it is your legal name or not?" he asked.

"Well, let's ask Grandma to add Raxtus to the register just in case he leaves and can't get back in," Kendra interrupted him as she thought of something that would actually get her grandmother to add Raxtus' name to the register. "It's a legitimate reason; it shows our concern and fears, especially mine since I've been so freaked out. They won't know what happened to me if all of the sudden I'm not worried about Raxtus anymore, since he's still wandering around lost. Then we can ask her to add Bracken's new friend Leander. Just keep it simple. That way Raxtus/Leander can come in and no one will question him. It won't matter if it needs to be his legal name they will both be there," she concluded.

"Reasonable," Bracken agreed and scribbled on some paper.

"You can stay here with me," Seth volunteered smiling at Leander. "Until you are legit anyway. I've got that extra bed and you can disappear when someone comes up. They always knock."

"I have an explanation for you being here!" Bracken suddenly became animated. "I have been thinking about hiring a tracker to find Raxtus. Leander could be that tracker. I've asked _him_ to search for Raxtus. That way he can roam around the sanctuary looking for his clues too." He looked excited by his solution.

"I'll let the fairies back into the garden and tell them that Raxtus was here but left again," he said deciding on a plan of action. He stopped scribbling on the paper and tore off the sheet.

"Thanks, I knew I could count on my friends to help me out," Leander smiled, feeling very lucky.

Kendra gave him a warm hug and Seth punched his shoulder. Bracken just smiled and nodded.

Bracken needed to go and lay the ground work for Leander's alias and Kendra needed to talk her Grandmother to get Raxtus and Leander on the register. They left Seth and Leander in Seth's room.

"Ask Seth how the bathroom works," she suggested to Leander, as she left the room. She laughed to herself wondering how that would go.

Kendra and Bracken headed down to the front door. They passed Grandma Ruth entering the kitchen to make supper and Bracken waved goodbye.

"I'll be right back to help you," Kendra called to her grandmother, noticing that she was alone in the kitchen. She needed to talk to her anyway; it was good that she was alone right now.

Kendra walked with Bracken to the back edge of the garden to say their goodbyes.

"I'll be back when I have everything set up, it shouldn't take too long. Here take this note to put Leander in the register. Ruth may be suspicious if you just give her the name. Act as if you don't know him. Okay?" Bracken said handing her a torn corner of paper. "While I'm gone I'll do a little research of my own, to see if I can help Leander find his dream girl.

"I'm going to have to tell mother about him. Since he was her ward I have a feeling she already knows but don't say anything to him. He doesn't need to know yet," he said looking back at the house.

Kendra sighed and nodded – more secrets.

"I don't want you to go so don't be gone long. I miss you so much," Kendra said. She pouted then smiled at him and pulled him into a hug.

"I'll see you soon. I'm putting this as my highest priority now so I'll be around more. You're _my_ dream girl," Bracken smiled and bent over to kiss her.

Kendra blushed and felt the butterflies in her stomach. She couldn't get over the way he made her feel when he said things like that, and especially when he kissed her. She rose on her toes as his face rose above her trying to keep her lips on his as he moved away.

"Soon," he said laughing. He kissed her forehead quickly as he turned toward the forest.

"Bye," she said softly watching him walk away. She knew he was headed for the Fairy Queen's shrine. He and the fairy's were the only ones who could use it as a doorway to and from the sanctuary now. Raxtus couldn't use it any longer.

She walked slowly back through the garden to the house wondering how all of this was going to work out. With Bracken involved, it had a better chance of getting resolved.

Suddenly dozens of curious fairies surrounded her. Their greetings were overpowering, the noise though beautiful was deafening.

"Hi Kendra, how was Raxtus?

Where did he go?"

"Raxtus is here?"

"Hi!..."

"Hello, hello…"

"Hi!"

"Where's Raxtus?"

"Kendra!"

"One at a time," she yelled over the din, covering her ears.

The sudden silence was remarkable.

Kendra dropped her hands and turned slowly looking at all the fairies swarming her. Some pouted and looked hurt, some looked angry and some still looked only curious but they were all silent.

"You," she said softly, pointing at one of the fairies that looked curious instead of hurt or angry. "Ask what you want."

"Hi Kendra, where did Raxtus go?" she asked. She puffed out her chest, thrilled that she was the one chosen. Her ego soared as she flaunted her celebrity by flying closer to Kendra and the angry fairies began to pout.

"Hello," she said to the fairy then she turned and addressed the other fairies. "Hello, all of you. Welcome back to the garden. I want to thank you for following Bracken's orders to leave Raxtus alone and thanks so very much for passing on the word to Bracken to come and check on him."

All of the fairies were smiling now that she had praised them for doing a good job.

"Raxtus went invisible shortly after landing in the garden and I have no idea where he went."

Another fairy flew in close, her smiling face bright and curious.

"Yes?" Kendra asked.

"When will he be back?" she asked and a dozen fairies giggled.

"We know that he is ok, the spell did him no lasting damage but he is missing – again," she said dodging the question.

All of the fairies sighed disappointed. Kendra thought it sounded like sad little wind chimes and breathy little reed pipes.

"I need to go in now. Thanks again for your help. He is still missing so keep looking," she said and headed to the house faster this time.

The fairies dispersed and went back to their various pursuits.

She couldn't tell her grandmother about Raxtus appearing and disappearing and get his name on the register. She was sure the fairies wouldn't say anything since they thought he was still missing. Once the register had his name written in it, they could handle any other problem. Even if they found out, he had appeared for a few moments before disappearing again it would be just a tiny hurdle to jump.


	15. Secrets and More Secrets

Secrets and More Secrets

Based on characters from Fablehaven© by Brandon Mull. The original characters and plot details are my property. No copyright infringement intended.

Kendra walked into the kitchen and sat in the chair next to her grandmother who was peeling a huge sack of potatoes. Kendra picked up a peeler and began assisting her grandmother.

"Grandma, I was wondering about Warren's cabin. While I was cleaning up I was trying to figure out how old it was. I was wondering who built it. Do you know?" Kendra asked innocently.

"Hmm, I believe Patton's uncle built it but I'm not sure when it was built," she replied. "We can look it up in the history."

Kendra peeled for a while then she sighed. Repeating her worried actions of the last few weeks seemed like a good idea. If she suddenly became happy after so many weeks of unhappiness, her family would consider her either suspicious or really crazy.

"What's the matter Kendra? Didn't you have a good visit with Bracken?" Ruth asked. She knew why the girl was sighing. She had hoped that Bracken's visit would have eased the girl's mind a bit.

"Yes, but something he said got me thinking again. You know I'm worried about Raxtus, what if he got out of the sanctuary and can't get back in. Maybe that is why we can't find him. Maybe he is confused or invisible trying to find a way back in. Is his name in the register?"

"I don't remember his name needing to be there because he usually came through the shrine but we may have added it after the shrine was destroyed. We added so many during that time. If it isn't in the register it should be," Ruth said, surprised that they hadn't thought of it earlier. "You could be right. Let's finish these potatoes and go check. I'll add it if it needs to be, then we will take a look at the history," she said and finished the potato she was peeling.

Ruth thought Kendra's worries might have some merit. At least now she was coming up with legitimate concerns instead of her earlier, childish what ifs.

"That reminds me Bracken had a request to add someone to the register also. He's got a tracker coming to see if he can find Raxtus. That's what he told me when he left. He said to tell you he would be back later with more information.

"He wrote down his name, I've got it here somewhere," she said fumbling around feeling for the note. "Here it is." She pulled the note from her back pocket and laid it on the table in front of her grandmother.

"Nicely acted," a whisper came from nowhere. It was so soft she was sure that her grandmother hadn't heard it but this time it didn't tickle either of her ears so she couldn't tell where it came from.

Leander was no longer in Seth's room. He could follow her and Grandma Ruth everywhere they went. This wasn't good; there were secrets that shouldn't be shared. One of them was where they kept the register.

She gasped at his whisper.

"What?" Grandma asked in response to her gasp.

"Oh nothing, just a paper cut," she lied and stuck her finger in her mouth.

"So Bracken hired a tracker? Huh, he must also be worried to go to that trouble," Grandma said as she took a quick look at the paper then went back to peeling potatoes. "I guess it's the next logical step," she said to the potato in her hand.

Kendra half laughed at her grandmother's joke. She saw movement from the corner of her eye and turned looking at the stairs. She saw Leander. He flashed in and out of visibility giving thumbs up to Seth who stood at the top grinning like an idiot at her.

Grandma had her back to the stairs and didn't see anything.

_Boys are such…children_, she thought. She got up from the table and walked to the door looking up the stairs. She saw them both go up the second set of stairs toward Seth's room. Seth was shaking with laughter; she could just hear it now. She felt much better knowing that it was one of her brother's stupid jokes not Leander being sneaky. It was probably payback for having Leander ask him about the toilet.

Kendra helped her grandmother start the potatoes cooking before they headed upstairs to add names to the register.

"I don't know why we didn't think of this earlier. We had to add Celebrant to the register so he could come and search for Raxtus himself. So I need to add this one too, huh? Leander Day, tracker. What do you know about this guy?" she asked as she searched for Raxtus' name.

"Nothing. Bracken decided it was time to really start looking so he found a tracker. He gave me his name for the register," Kendra hedged. "I guess he must be good if Bracken wants him. He will probably explain when he comes back."

"Here's his name sweetie; don't worry any more. He could get back in if he needed to," she said soothingly to Kendra.

Kendra breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Leander's name also go into the thick register.

"The tracker must be really good; I hope that he does find him. It is terrible not knowing what happened to the little dragon. Him being able to go invisible has made this even harder, but it has kept Celebrant from burning this place to the ground looking for him," she said as she locked the register in its hiding place.

"He wouldn't have; would he?" Kendra asked surprised and shocked.

"I don't know but he was really frantic when he came looking. He thought we weren't doing enough, yelled at Bracken about something. He learned better when the Fairy Queen sent a message to him.

"Oh goodness," she said looking at the clock on the wall. "I didn't realize it was so late. Let's finish getting supper ready before the potatoes are done," she said heading down the stairs. "We'll check the history later."

After dinner, Seth and Kendra managed to smuggle only a chicken leg and two rolls for Leander to eat. Leander's stomach continued to grumble and Seth had to keep him from trying to chew up the bone.

"We don't eat bones," he pulled the leg bone out of Leander's hand before he put it back into his mouth again. "Our teeth and stomachs aren't designed to handle it."

"Thanks, I didn't know," Leander replied. "I'm so hungry."

"I'll get you some more food after everyone goes to sleep. I usually sneak down about midnight for a snack," he promised Leander.

Leaving the kitchen just after midnight, Seth carried a plate of food, crept back up the stairs quietly in the shadows. He liked using his stealth skills even if it was only sneaking food to his room in the middle of the night. He opened the door to his room and listened for any movement downstairs, he heard nothing. He silently closed the door and flipped on the light.

"Come and get it," Seth said softly as he pulled the napkin off the plate of food.

"I'm starving," Leander whispered, reappearing in the middle of the room his stomach grumbled loudly. He took the overfull plate and sat down at the table and began to eat.

"Sorry, I just couldn't get a midnight snack too early; someone might not be asleep yet," Seth said apologetically and handed him a fork.

"Umm?" was all that Leander could say with his mouth full, chicken leg in one hand and roll in the other, he knew how to eat these. He looked cautiously at the fork in Seth's hand.

"Just use it like a shovel so you don't get your fingers dirty," Seth said laughing and sat it on the table next to the plate. It was fascinating to Seth that you could almost tell what Leander was thinking just by watching his face. Every thought and emotion was plain, unsullied by a lifetime of misleading others about his true feelings.

Leander chewed the chicken meat in his mouth and looked at the fork uneasily.

"You won't accidentally change back into a dragon when you fall asleep will you?" Seth nervously asked Leander the question that had been on the tip of his tongue all evening.

"No, I don't think that is possible, it is a seriously controlled act of will to change. Don't worry about that happening," he said when he had swallowed his mouthful of food.

"Are you going to sleep in your boxers or do you need some pajamas."

"What are boxers? What are pajamas?" Leander asked looking at Seth.

"Ok… I guess you need pajamas," Seth said rolling his eyes. "Uh, boxers are underwear. Don't ask me why we wear clothes under our clothes. I'm not sure where it came from but we just do.

"Pajamas are clothes specifically to sleep in," Seth said digging in his dresser for pajama bottoms. "I'm wearing my boxers," he said pulling a pair of pajama pants from the drawer.

Leander's stomach grumbled but before he took another bite, he picked up the fork and stabbed at the food. He pushed the fork under a pile of green vegetables and shoveled them into his mouth. It worked and the green stuff tasted good too. He chewed and tried it again.

"Here, use these. Good thing we are about the same size. When you're done with your food, go take a shower and put these on," Seth said and laid the pajamas over the back of one of the chairs.

"I'm going to sleep," he yawned broadly, pulled off his jeans and flopped into his bed. "Oh yah 'n turn out the light before you go to sleep," he said as he pulled the covers over himself and closed his eyes.

Leander hungrily ate the food on the plate half listening to Seth as he mumbled his final words. Now Seth's soft slow breathing was the only sound in the room besides his chewing, swallowing and the fork hitting the plate.

His second real meal as a human, and it was wonderful. He chewed each bite with relish enjoying the flavors, very happy with the tastes, smells and textures. The various consistencies and spices of each different portion were something he had never experienced as a carnivorous dragon. Food had just been food, well actually just raw meat. Now each mouthful was an event. As his final bite went into his mouth he felt full but also felt satisfied and happy.

He swallowed and remembered Seth told him to take a shower. Earlier he had asked Seth to show him how the bathroom worked when Kendra had been hesitant. When Seth did, Leander knew the reason for her reluctance. Even Leander blushed when Seth explained the other use of the zipper on his jeans besides taking them off. Seth could talk about anything, he had no fear but it seemed nothing embarrassed him either.

Seth had taken him to the bathroom and explained the toilet, the sink and the shower. He flushed the toilet and turned on the faucets of the sink and shower to show him how they worked. He also explained about waiting until the water heated up so you could adjust it and not get scalded or chilled. He told him what soap to use and where to use it. He was even thorough enough to explain how to dry his hair with a towel.

Leander picked up the pajama pants and quietly walked down the stairs to the bathroom, closed and locked the door as Seth had warned him to do before he turned on the light. He turned on the hot water in the shower. He stripped off his t-shirt. When he pulled on the bow in the gauze belt, it unraveled and his loose jeans fell to the floor. He used the toilet while waiting for the water to heat.

Everything was so different, so strange but exciting in its apparent routineness. He looked at his new body in the mirror – his normal body – he looked normal, human normal. He couldn't help but smile. Humans did this kind of thing every day and he could look forward to doing this now that he was human.

He felt the air heated from the flowing water in the shower so he turned on the cold water and adjusted it to a temperature he felt comfortable with and stepped into the shower. A shiver of pleasure ran down his back as the pressure from the warm spray of water tingled on his skin.

He used the soap and washed his body. Fingers, hands, silky soap and the rough texture of the washcloth, it all felt strange and wonderful on his smooth skin.

He no longer had rough scales but he didn't really remember that part anyway. He realized he couldn't remember what it was like to be a dragon. He didn't know how to be a human yet but he had forgotten what it was like to be a dragon. Should he be concerned?

No, I'm happy, he thought as he sat on the floor of the tub and scrubbed his feet.

When he scrubbed the soles of his feet, it tickled. Though he didn't know what tickling was he felt the extraordinary shiver as his foot sought to escape his own hand and a silly laugh formed in his throat. When he tried again it happened again, even his other foot did it. He was delighted as another strange and wonder human experience happened to him.

Washing his hair was a pleasurable experience too until his fingers tangled in his long hair as he worked the lather into his scalp. He was amazed how it hurt to pull on a strand or two but wasn't so bad if he tugged on a handful of his hair. He had never had to deal with his hair before.

He rinsed off all of the soap and stood in the spray enjoying the feeling until the water started to run cooler, he quickly turned off the water. He dried off and pulled on the elastic waist pajamas. He wrapped his clothes up into a bundle and turned off the bathroom light. He slowly opened the door and guided by the faint light from above quietly climbed the stairs to Seth's room.

He closed the bedroom door and turned off the light. In the dark he dropped his clothes on the floor at the end of the bed and crawled under the covers. It had been a long day but he was wound up, his mind was still racing. He thought about his new life as a human and yawned. His body, warm and relaxed from the shower and full of food, had other ideas. Lying on the soft bed his eyes closed, his head nodded and Leander fell asleep.


	16. What am I?

What am I?

Based on characters from Fablehaven© by Brandon Mull. The original characters and plot details are my property. No copyright infringement intended.

Leander woke up warm, comfortable and feeling something was out of the ordinary. He was in a room, a real room, not a cave, barn or a stone keep. He lay in a bed, a real bed not a lumpy bed of treasure or dirt. It was a warm bed, heated by his body heat. He looked around, light filtering in through a window somewhere defined the space and he remembered he was in Seth's room.

He held his hands up, wiggled his fingers and stared at them. Amazed at their small perfection, he touched his face with both hands. It was human also, warm and soft. He was amazed at his strange new body but he was comfortable. As his hands rested on his face he felt his mouth and cheeks move to smile, he was happy. He was normal this wasn't a dream.

He sat up on the edge of the bed and watched Seth sleep for a few minutes. He impatiently waited and then his stomach grumbled hungrily.

He got up and stood over his friend. "Hey Seth, wake up," he said quietly, there was no response.

He reached down and shook his arm, "Seth?"

"Stop it, leave me alone," came the grumpy, sleepy reply and he rolled over.

"Oh, sorry," Leander apologized and sat down on his bed again.

"What? Oh!" Seth woke to the unfamiliar voice. He opened his eyes and saw an unfamiliar face. He jumped up ready to fight before he realized it was Leander. "You startled me… again," he said smiling.

"I've gotta use the toilet, and I'm hungry," Leander whispered and his stomach growled to accentuate the point.

"Oh! Hmm. Uh, you disappear … follow me … I'll open and close doors," Seth rattled off as he slipped into the jeans he left on the floor overnight.

When they returned Seth rummaged through his dresser again and gave Leander a pair of boxers, some baggy jeans and a t-shirt to wear before heading down for breakfast.

Leander's stomach grumbled again.

"I'll bring something for you to eat," Seth said laughing. He picked up the plate and fork from the midnight snack before he left.

A gentle tap on the door caused Leander to disappear. Seth opened the door and Kendra walked in looking around expectantly.

"Good morning Kendra," Seth said sarcastically.

"Oh yeah, morning, Seth," she said offhandedly. "Leander?" she queried.

"He's hungry, lets go eat and bring him something too," Seth said quietly still holding the door open.

"Please!" Leander's quiet but pleading voice came from everwhere in the room. Kendra laughed and followed Seth out of the room, closing the door behind her.

Leander managed to get himself dressed though he did struggle with the unfamiliar zipper and snap on the jeans.

A half hour later Seth returned. He had easily smuggled two slices of toast and a hand full of bacon for Leander. He also brought a large glass of orange juice that he faked sipping all the way up the stairs.

"This is great!" Leander exclaimed when he took a bite of the bacon.

Kendra returned a few minutes later. She managed to smuggle a couple pancakes and the last of the strawberry jam in a jar she was supposed to clean and recycle.

"This is better," he said after he took a bite of the pancake smothered in the strawberry jam.

"It's all good," he said finally, smiling as he licked his fingers after he swallowed the last bite of toast and bacon smothered in jelly.

_Knock. Knock._

Seth and Kendra quickly looked at the door and then back at Leander. The chair where he had been sitting was empty.

Kendra went to the door while Seth pulled open the books and papers they were supposed to be studying. The table was in proper disarray when Kendra opened the door.

Bracken stood there, his eyes were bright with excitement but something in the way he held himself told Kendra he was very tired. Marla stood beside him.

"I expect you to get all of your studying done," she said seriously with a lift of her eyebrow. She smiled at Bracken and walked away.

Bracken walked in and sat down wearily. Leander appeared next to him and he didn't even flinch.

"I've been up all night getting stories about dragons, Raxtus and his family. Thank you, Mother for all your shrines!" he said with pleasure.

"What did you find out?" Leander asked leaning over the table toward him.

Bracken thought for a moment, how to arrange his thoughts and get the information to Leander so he would understand it and not be overwhelmed by the consequences of the knowledge.

"What do you know about how individual dragons get their particular breath weapons and magical talent?" he asked Leander.

"Nothing, I don't have much of Raxtus' private memories. He and I are very different. We share only memories like good friends, bad enemies, the layout of sanctuaries and other generalizations but not his personal thoughts," he said with an awkward shrug. "That might fall in the category of general information so I don't think he knew anything either."

Bracken leaned back in the chair, crossed his arms over his chest and took a deep breath. He looked at Leander's open naive face and with a slight grin he began speaking.

"Dragons' offspring are different that humans, they are not totally dependent on a genetic link to their parents. There is a certain amount of that but there is dragon magic at work too. Each dragon has the capability of many different powers some are common and some are quite rare.

"In the egg, the dragonet is sentient by the end of its first year and capable of complex reasoning. It takes many years for a dragon egg to hatch. In the last year the young dragon is learning from a unique and direct psychic link with an adult dragon guide, sometimes a parent, most times not. They learn but can also direct what elements it is interested in and capable of manipulating.

"The link only happens during a certain portion of the unhatched dragon's formation and once training is completed the unhatched dragon severs the link before leaving its egg. Dragons do not have psychic powers so don't think any of them can read your mind."

Something about that statement bothered Leander, it didn't ring quite true but it wasn't wrong either. Raxtus would know, oh well, it didn't bother him that much. He shook it off and listened to what Bracken was saying.

"Magic is also at work so when the dragon hatches they are a mixture of their parents, their ancestors, their own choices and dragon magic. The combination can lead to a powerful but common fire dragon or a less common lightening dragon from the same clutch. Frost dragons are the rarest and the most powerful.

"The chance of a rare Frost dragon having Frost dragon offspring is much higher than the random chance of one happening on its own.

"I found out that Raxtus' mother was one of those rare powerful Frost dragons," Bracken said wearily as if he were talking about someone other than Leander. Bracken closed his eyes and yawned but continued to speak.

"Dragon lore is that if a female dragon waits until she is at least five hundred years old to mate the first time then her offspring will have exceptional powers because the power of the mother is so strong.

"Raxtus' clutch was her first. She had waited until she was five hundred years old to mate with his father. According to my source, she wanted her offspring to have the most from her that they could get. She knew her strengths and her ability to pass on her 'rarity'. She wanted Celebrant's offspring to be powerful like him, and to have every advantage she could give them."

Captivated by the story Bracken was telling Leander listened intently. He had never heard anything about his mother or his parent's relationship before he was born.

"Dragons may not love like we do but they are proud creatures and are proud of their offspring. She was very proud that Celebrant chose her to mate with, but she made him wait. He waited too."

Bracken opened his eyes and stared intently at Leander. This would be major information to pass on and wanted to see how he would take it.

"Throughout history the strongest most formidable dragons were Frost dragons and the rarest most outstandingly intelligent and powerful wizards were male Frost dragon avatars," he said the significant implication of their jointly acknowledged breeding effort apparent in his final words.

Kendra, standing next to Bracken, watched as Leander's face went through a myriad of excited, happy and sometimes confused emotions as he listened to Bracken's story of his mother and father. His face finally settled into the sad melancholy expression she had seen on his face when she first saw him in Warren's cabin.

"No wonder he was so disappointed in me, I was supposed to be one of a quartet of powerful heirs. We were to be a great and powerful family," Leander groaned, put his elbows on the table and his head in his hands.

"Oh man," Seth sympathized with him.

Kendra moved to sit in a chair next to him and patted his arm. She couldn't help herself, seeing the look on his face, tears started to fill her eyes.

Bracken yawned and closed his eyes again and continued speaking.

"The last frost dragon wizard died about 1000 years ago. He was the main architect of Zzyzx, the eldest wizard at the time and one of the most intelligent and powerful ever. He conceived and created the powerful sword Vasilis. He tried to avoid death by becoming one of the undead but he lost his humanity and it drove him insane.

"Seth met him; he was called Morisant the Magnificent. Instead of being a force for good as he had always been he became a force for evil. To stop his insane excesses a group of less powerful wizards managed to trap him and the sword behind the Totem Wall," Bracken stopped speaking and yawned again.

Seth nodded and took up part of the story.

"He bragged that they almost couldn't do it but then he said he was sorry for all the terrible things he did. He was glad he didn't get to do more bad stuff," Seth said slowly shaking his head at the memory. He had already told them of his encounter with the trapped and undead Morisant. They knew he had put an end to the insane undead wizard and emerged from behind the wall with the sword.

"I found out something interesting _and_ appalling," Bracken continued. "Since the killing of your siblings _all_ young Frost dragons, male and female have died in accidents. But they are so rare that there have only been three in the last six hundred years. There are no living Frost dragons on this planet that we know of."

"Somebody seriously doesn't want any Frost dragons around," Seth said, shaking his head.

"Your mother, Axezeles, was a huge dragon almost as big as your father. Her scales were ice blue, like the color of your eyes, Leander. Celebrant and she made a beautiful couple. I actually saw them together once though at the time I had no clue that they were a couple."

Bracken was relentless with his story but he was also tired and wanted to get the information out before he fell asleep.

"Raxtus probably would have grown to exactly your father's size, if things had gone normally. Only the blue on Raxtus' spikes would have been the difference between him and his father. Your siblings would have been magnificent too."

Leander groaned lowering his head to the table. This tale was getting more humiliating every minute. He was torn because he wanted to hear it and yet he didn't want to know how far short he had fallen from his potential and his father's expectations.

Kendra patted his arm again knowing there was nothing else she could do for her friend.

"There may have been a faction within the few remaining wizards to prevent her from having offspring. They may have been fearful of another Morisant," Bracken said conjecturing.

"Your mother just disappeared, she is assumed dead though her body was never found. Your well hidden clutch shouldn't have been vulnerable no matter if it had a guard or not. The cockatrice may have been set loose on purpose to destroy the eggs or prevent them from hatching. Someone or something wanted your entire clutch destroyed along with your mother to prevent her from trying again," he concluded.

Leander lifted his head from the table and looked up at Bracken astonished at his supposition.

"I always accepted what I was told was the truth. That she got herself killed somehow – foolishly. That she left us unprotected. I never thought that someone might have wanted us dead," Leander said sadly, tears welling in his eyes. Shiara and the fairies saved him from being murdered like the rest.

"That tale of your mother being killed somehow foolishly is mostly idle fairy babble," Bracken sighed. "Dragons check on their eggs occasionally but they hide them very well. They don't guard their eggs. Shiara says your mother hid your eggs extremely well. Someone searched deliberately for your clutch and sent the cockatrice in with the intention of destroying all the eggs."

Silence filled the room as they all thought about the murder of Raxtus siblings and his mother.

Kendra's tears started flowing down her face. she felt so bad for Leander, finding all this out now when he was so emotionally vulnerable.

Leander put his head back down on the table as if the information was too much for his mind to hold. He really didn't know how to handle his human emotions yet. He stopped thinking and let the thoughts rattle around in his mind without trying to focus on anything Bracken had just told him.

Bracken started to nod off to sleep when suddenly Leander raised his head and stared at Bracken with a strange expression on his face.

"Oh, whoa, wait a minute. Are you telling me that I could possibly be a Frost dragon?" Leander asked in disbelief.

"We don't know what you are – do we?" Bracken startled awake said seriously. "You were corrupted by fairy magic and your dragon magic never developed properly. Who knows how long it will take for you to find out – develop your magic. You are like a young dragon again, inexperienced. Almost like an unhatched dragonet.

"Do you have any memory of your guide and what you wanted to be back then?" he asked.

"Are you joking? I can't remember that far back, anyway that would be Raxtus' memory," Leander shook his head. "But I think I was actually pulled from the egg before I got my guide."

Leander's mind was spinning. He was unsure of what Bracken was saying. Could he be a rare and powerful Frost dragon?

"Okay, let me get straight…you are saying now that I have my dragon magic and a human avatar I might be a powerful dragon or a mighty wizard?" Leander said trying to figure it all out. "That kind of thing would never happen, least of all to me. Besides that, I wouldn't know how to act. I've never been very good at being a dragon," he laughed scornfully. "From the lowest joke to the best there is – get real." He rolled his eyes and shook his head. He couldn't be a powerful dragon if he was still a dwarf, no one would take him seriously even if he did have great dragon powers.

Could he truly become the son that Celebrant deserved? He wondered. _No_…was his answer and Leander snorted in self-derision.

But even if it were true then the only way he could claim his truly unique power without ridicule would be to become a wizard and give up his dragon form. Dragons really hated wizards though. His father couldn't have wanted that for his offspring.

He didn't know what kind of dragon he was and he had no clue how it worked. Maybe the only way to find out his nature was to discover what his 'first' breath weapon might be but….

Did he want to know? He shook his head.

Did he have to know? He shook his head.

He had no way of finding out either unless he stayed a dragon and listened for his guide. Would that work? He wasn't an unhatched dragon.

No, no and no.

He could just stay human and no one would ask him to do anything. True it was kind of cowardly but he had been a coward almost his entire life. He might think of this in another way if he was in dragon form but he wasn't. He was human and those were the emotions and intelligence he was using. This didn't sound like a good situation to him and knowing what a coward Raxtus was he probably wouldn't like it either.

Did he want to become whomever these crazy people were willing to kill?

NO! Who would?

Becoming either a powerful dragon or wizard was not something he wanted to develop. Raxtus had only wanted to be a normal dragon but that was impossible since he was so small and always would be.

Now Leander only wanted to be a normal human. He had been ignored most of his life and he kind of liked it. Now that he was a normal looking human maybe he could really be ignored by dragonkind and disappear without being invisible.

He looked up from the table into friendly faces. They were looking at him with wonder and concern as he sat there. He had been staring through the tabletop silently shaking his head at the strange and frightening thoughts going through his mind.

"This is difficult. I've generally been a coward my entire life so I don't want to do this. I'm glad no one else knows who or where I am," Leander confessed suddenly feeling very paranoid. "You aren't going to make me do anything about this are you?" he addressed Bracken.

"I can't make you do anything and don't want to," Bracken said slouching deeper into the chair. "I'm giving you information you probably should have had long ago but no one would talk about. The sources I talked to told me that once Celebrant found out how small you were and that you hatched contaminated with fairy magic, he dismissed you as a viable heir.

"Any enemies you had probably left you alone because of the fairy magic. Then when you never showed your avatar many dragons thought you couldn't invoke one. They must have thought if that were true you couldn't become a wizard," Bracken told him.

"But now I'm no longer contaminated with fairy magic and I am human. If 'they' find out they might come after me," Leander concluded glumly. "Will they try to kill me if they find out I'm human just on the chance that I might be a Frost dragon?

"What am I to do? Can I prove to them that I'm not? Then what if it turns out that I am? I wouldn't have enough power to protect myself, and they could kill me at will," Leander rambled on thinking out loud.

"I don't want this!" he said too loudly and Kendra shushed him even though his words wouldn't escape Bracken's shield.

"I don't want to know. Can't I just stay human? Kendra was told it's the perfect disguise no one can penetrate it especially if I don't do magic. I can fool anyone," Leander said quietly but still in a panicked rush of words. He hadn't felt the ability to do magic yet, maybe without his fairy magic he didn't have any. Bracken had told him he might not have an avatar at all; maybe instead he just lost all his magic. Right now he could live happily with that possibility.

"That means you can never use your dragon form again, do you want to do that?" Kendra asked terrified for her friend but she couldn't imagine never again seeing the small platinum dragon or flying with him again.

"Well it's better than staying invisible for the rest of my life," Leander said with passion.

"True, I wouldn't like that possibility," Kendra said.

"No I guess it wouldn't be a good idea," Seth added.

"So what am I going to do?" he asked looking from one face to the next.

No one had an answer for him.


	17. Trip into Town

Trip into Town

Based on characters from Fablehaven© by Brandon Mull. The original characters and plot details are my property. No copyright infringement intended.

"I guess I'll just have to let nature take its course and find clues to what I am," he said after no one spoke for many minutes.

"I want to find the girl in my dream. Maybe she could tell me something. I wish I knew more about her," Leander said and continued to worry. "I didn't dream of her when I was sleeping last night."

"The room is warded, even if she could get to your dreams she wouldn't be able to get through the wards. You are going to have to sleep somewhere other than this room if you want to see if you can contact her in your dreams," Bracken informed him wondering now how that was supposed to work when according to his information it could only occur when the dragon was still in the egg. Had Celebrant lied to him?

"Where would be a safe place?" Leander asked.

"The little barn is still protected. The distractor spell will keep everyone out but us. You will have to let us take you in because it will repel you now also," Bracken said wearily his head on his crossed arms now resting on the table.

"Well I guess it's time for Leander the tracker to start his search for Raxtus the missing dragon," Leander said, wanting to get started finding the mysterious girl that could reach him in his dream.

"You got his name in the register?" Bracken drowsily asked Kendra.

"Yes, that is all done; both Raxtus and Leander are written there," she affirmed.

"We need to let them know that you are welcome to stay with me," Seth said. "That way you can get an early start each morning." He thought of any excuse to have his friend remain close to him.

"So let's go and get me introduced to everyone," he said eager to start his search.

"I guess I need to be the one to do the introductions," Bracken said yawning yet again as he lifted his head from the table. "Let's see. I think we should go out to the woods on the other side of the garden and come in as if we are coming in from the gate. Humans can't come through the shrine. After that you will be able to come and go from the gate as you wish," Bracken said thinking about how to handle the situation the best for Kendra and Seth. He wanted everyone to be comfortable including Leander.

"So I need to be invisible to get to the gate, how am I going to become visible without twenty fairies seeing me? They follow you everywhere, Bracken," Leander asked concerned about his secret now.

"Oh no! No, no. We will go pick you up from the airport, Kendra and I will take my truck to get you," Seth chimed in, shaking his head, totally ignoring everything Bracken said. "You can hide in the backseat until we get out of Fablehaven.

"Bracken, he needs to see more of the world just to get his head on straight, he's pretty clueless," Seth rolled his eyes, he needed to set these guys straight. "Sorry Leander, there is a lot that you have missed being a dragon all of your life and not just breakfast, zippers and showers."

Kendra blushed at his reference and wonder what Leander had thought of the shower. It was obvious that he had taken one since she had seen him last night, but Seth had given him the most dreadful clothes to wear, worse than the ones they had taken from Warren's cabin. He looked like a baggy hobo.

"No matter how many movies you watched as a dragon you need 'hands on' experience. We can show you around town and show you things you need to know about the area. Maybe take you for lunch at our favorite place. Teach you how to eat and act like a teenage boy," Seth laughed.

"You will need a suitcase and clothes to wear. Grandma would be very suspicious if you didn't have piles of dirty laundry every night. Especially if you are searching the preserve every day, it is hot work believe me. You will need shampoo and deodorant… toothbrush. Stuff like that. Do you shave yet?" Seth looked closely at Leander's face. "Probably not. If you did you would already have stubble 'cause you haven't shaved in… what? …three days… since you became human."

Leander just stared at him as if he was speaking another language, which of course Seth was, he was speaking young human male.

Kendra gawked at Seth too. He was a fount of information that she would have never thought of. Leander would need all the belongings and equipment of both a human and a tracker.

"You are right. Somehow, I need get some of my hoard. I'll need money if I have to buy stuff," he said thinking about his new needs. "Somehow I need to go to my cave and…"

"You have a hoard? Why didn't I know about that? I could go for you," Seth perked right up, remembering the one he had looted before.

Kendra cringed. "Okay, Seth how much is it going to cost him for you to go and get his money?"

"What? Kendra you hurt my feelings. Do you think I would charge my friend for my services?" Seth feigned a hurt look.

"Oh, now I'm really worried. Leander you better have him bring the whole thing or you will go back and it will be all gone," Kendra said in warning.

"Kendra!" Seth yelled outraged.

"See, I caught him!" she laughed humorlessly and stared at Seth.

"I don't have anywhere to put it, besides it is quite substantial and probably better off where it is. Even if Seth finds out where it is I trust him," Leander said looking at Seth significantly.

"Thank you for that Leander. See Kendra, not everyone thinks I'm bad," Seth said noticing the implications in Leander's glance. Yeah, he trusts me… to a point. He's still a possessive dragon.

"Not everyone knows you like I do," Kendra said seriously.

"Where is it?" Bracken asked. Both Leander and Seth looked up at Bracken suspiciously as if he was trying to steal their gold mine.

"I'm only asking because if it is in a sanctuary Seth will need a reason for going and maybe we can come up with a reason for him being there," he explained fending off their suspicious stares.

"It's …" Leander started to answer the nonspecific question with a nonspecific answer.

"Never mind," Seth interrupted. "It will take me a while to get the hoard no matter where it is and you need to be here today. I will buy you a suitcase and some clothes. You can pay me back later," Seth volunteered. "You don't need to have a brand new suitcase so we can go to the resale shop and get an old one. Check out the clothes there too, you can't have all new clothes either," he added.

"You are just about the sneakiest boy, Seth Sorenson. You know all the tricks don't you," Kendra said amazed at his sensible but wily reasoning. "Do you just sit around and think of this stuff?"

"No, it just comes naturally!" he replied indignantly. "Do you want my help or not!"

"Sorry, you are right," Kendra apologized, conditionally. "I'll stop picking on you … for now."

"You are going with us Bracken. We will need you to identify your new tracker at the airport. Have you tried the food at the new restaurant in town?" Seth went on without a second look at his sister.

"I guess we should be going if we are going to do this today," Bracken agreed but he was so tired he couldn't manage to get up.

"Bracken, you are about to fall out of your chair, you need a nap before we go. How long have you been awake?"

"Um, too long, counting last night's multi-sanctuary dash," he answered sleepily.

"The airport is two hours away if we leave after lunch it will be soon enough, since we really aren't going there. They wouldn't let him start searching until tomorrow morning anyway. Take a nap and we will discuss our shopping trip," Kendra told him knowing he would recover quickly with a short nap.

"Sounds good to me I'm almost asleep already," Bracken yawned.

"Use my bed," Seth offered and helped him up out of the chair.

Bracken staggered the few feet to the bed and collapsed. He fell asleep immediately.

Two hours later Ruth brought lunch up for the three of them and fortunately, she brought up enough for four. Leander's stomach had been growling almost constantly by lunch time. Kendra was worried that it would grumble while her grandmother was in the room but during the time Leander was invisible there were no sounds from him.

Seth moved the books out of the way, as she sat the tray of food on the table.

"He looked so tired when he came in this morning to talk to us about the tracker," Ruth commented looking over at Bracken sound asleep on Seth's bed.

"As soon as he is rested we are going to pick up the tracker from the airport," Kendra told her.

"Oh? He didn't tell us that part," she looked at her granddaughter questioningly.

"I guess he was too tired, it must have slipped his mind," she smiled innocently.

"I'm glad he is getting some rest," she smiled in return.

"Oh, we were boring him with our school work. I think he fell asleep in self defense," Seth told her jokingly.

As soon as she left the room, Leander and Seth set about eating almost the entire tray of food. Kendra had to snatch a few items for herself and Bracken before they ate it all.

Shortly before three o'clock when Kendra thought that Bracken's nap was sufficient she woke him. They filled him in on what they had talked about doing in town while he ate the sandwich Kendra had managed to save for him.

"Okay, I'll meet you at the truck. Someone will have to open the door for me. It would look suspicious for it to open by itself," Leander said anxious to get going and then he abruptly disappeared.

"Ha ha! That never get's old, wish I could do that," Seth laughed and headed for the door.

The three of them walked down the stairs and found a rare sight Grandpa Stan and Dad reading reports in the study.

"Dad we are going to take Bracken to the airport to pick up the tracker. We will probably eat dinner out too. We will be back with him after eight," Kendra said, quickly calculating the round trip to the airport and added an hour for dinner.

"Sure Honey. Bracken, are you sure this guy can find something we haven't?" Scott asked looking up from his reports. He had heard second hand about the tracker. He wanted to get it straight from Bracken.

Scott and his father were out doing their early morning chores when Bracken had told Ruth and Marla about the tracker earlier that morning.

"I'm sure that if Raxtus is out there this tracker will find him," Bracken said confidently.

"Okay, drive safe and we will see you when you get home. I look forward to meeting this tracker," he replied nodding and looking optimistic.

"Dad, I want to offer to let him stay up in my room, that way he can get an early start on his search tomorrow. Bracken says he is a cool guy," Seth said quickly.

"He may have different ideas about where he wants to stay. Dad what do you think?" he was doubtful about Seth's strange offer.

"I was planning on putting him up in one of the guest rooms," Stan said, thoughtfully. "Bracken, how old is Leander?"

"He is 16, Seth's age. I know that seems very young for me to be so sure of his talent but he is very skilled when it comes to tracking. Sort of like Kendra and Seth are very skilled with their abilities. The wards in Seth's room wouldn't be a problem," Bracken said to reassure them. He made sure he compared him to Seth and Kendra so it was assumable that Leander was human.

"Then he is welcome if he's agreeable," Stan granted.

"Great!" Seth heard the soft happy whisper in his ear.

Yes_,_ Seth mouthed and smiled.

Kendra stood with the truck door open while she waved goodbye to her mother who was looking out the kitchen window. She put her foot on the running board so when the truck reacted to Leander's weight entering the vehicle it looked like she had made the truck rock. He slid into the backseat and Kendra hopped into the seat next to him.

A few miles down the road from Fablehaven Leander reappeared next to Kendra. They had been talking to him. His disembodied voice filled the truck still Kendra flinched when he reappeared.

"Sorry, didn't mean to startle you," he apologized as she reacted with surprise at his sudden appearance.

"That's ok, it's not like I didn't know you were there," she replied, blushing at her silliness.

When they reached the city they went to the resale shop and found a decent used suitcase and some fairly nice used clothes that fit Leander just fine, especially for doing dirty tracking work. They looked better on him than the baggy clothes that Seth had loaned him and he was still wearing.

Kendra made them stop at a local department store. She thought he needed to arrive at a new job in nice new clothes. She didn't want Seth to lead Leander too far down the gross boy track.

She found a shirt and some jeans that did him justice. When he emerged from the dressing room for Kendra to check the fit, several girls stopped to stare. She smiled and arched her eyebrows at him when he noticed the audience he had. He blushed attractively and retreated to the dressing room.

They purchased his toiletries, underwear and socks and still had over three hours before they needed to head home.

Seth thought that the electronics shop and hardware/sporting goods store in town were great places to shop for gear for a professional 'tracker'.

Next door to the electronics shop was a Laundromat on one side and the hardware/sporting goods store on the other. Kendra convinced them to wash the clothes, even the new ones. She and Bracken sat close and talked waiting on the clothes to wash while Leander and Seth went shopping in the electronics store.

They found an inexpensive GPS for Leander, and Seth found a few things he wanted. Leander followed Seth around trying to look like he knew what was going on.

Leander stuck his head in the door of the Laundromat as they passed and let them know they were changing stores.

Kendra and Bracken joined them in the hardware store while the clothes dried; Bracken put a spell on the dryer so no one else could open it.

Leander was full of questions and Seth was full of answers. Kendra burst out laughing several times at their choice of topics. Bracken just smiled and shook his head but added good advice when Seth's seemed a little shaky.

Seth bought him a backpack with self-contained water pack and a few items Seth thought he would need if he were going to be roaming around the sanctuary for hours every day, including a compass, flashlight and matches and some emergency food. Kendra laughed to herself; Leander was getting a new and more expensive version of Seth's old survival kit. They used up their time until the clothes were ready.

Kendra had Leander go to the men's room in the Laundromat to put on the new clothes for his arrival in Fablehaven. He couldn't arrive in Seth's old stuff or in the resale shop hand-me-downs. If he was a professional tracker he needed to look good on his first day at work. They returned to the truck and packed his suitcase with the toiletries and freshly washed and folded clothes.

The new well decorated restaurant in town had good food. Leander spent the entire time watching the wait staff coming and going from the kitchen, asking how the whole thing worked. Finally, Seth asked the waitress if he could take Leander to the kitchen.

The young woman led the way flirting with them the entire time. Seth noticed her apparent flirting but Leander was clueless.

On the way back from the kitchen, Seth introduced him to public restroom etiquette. Seth returned laughing and the stunned expression on Leander's face was hilarious.

The ride home they filled with tracker stories they had heard and acting lessons for Leander and Kendra. They thought up questions someone might ask and the appropriate answers. They laughed, joked and were having a good time.

When they turned on the road toward the sanctuary, they got serious and as they got even closer, the mood became tense.

Kendra was only slightly nervous about their plan. Bracken and Leander were very smart and Seth was sneakier than anyone she knew and he believed it would work.

Although they knew better, they all held their breath as they drove slowly hoping that Leander would be able to make it through the gate. When nothing happened, there were four deep breaths and a renewed determination that this would go well.


	18. The Tracker

The Tracker

Based on characters from Fablehaven© by Brandon Mull. The original characters and plot details are my property. No copyright infringement intended.

They slowly pulled up to the house. Seth and Kendra saw both sets of grandparents, their mother and father and Dale standing on the front porch expectantly waiting to meet the Tracker that would help them find Raxtus.

Bracken led the way as they exited the truck, Leander followed. Kendra and Seth stood next to the truck.

"This is Leander Day. Leander, these are the caretakers of Fablehaven," Bracken said then introduced him to each of the adults. Leander politely said hello and shook hands with all of them.

"Welcome to Fablehaven, we want to thank you for agreeing to look for Raxtus," Grandpa Stan said to him after the introductions were finished. "Tomorrow you will go out to where he was last seen. No one has disturbed the evidence. Consequently, it should be the best place to find his trail. The building's protection is still in effect so Kendra will have to escort you. I hope you have success where we have failed."

"I will do my best to find him or tell you if he is no longer here," Leander said confidently.

"You can do that?" Kendra asked coming forward, getting into the role they practiced in the truck earlier as the distraught friend. "You can tell if he has gone."

"If there is evidence that he has left, I will find it," Leander said seriously, as he turned to face Kendra for a moment before he turned back to the adults. Kendra noticed his eyes twinkling with mischief.

"I asked him if he wanted to stay here and he said yes," Seth added smiling at the group on the porch. "I'll let him see the room before he makes any other decisions."

"Come in, come in. We don't need to stand out here all night," Grandma Ruth invited everyone back into the house. "Anyone for desert," she asked.

"Yes, please," Leander said, as his stomach grumbled.

"Didn't they feed you in town?" Stan asked amused by his grumbling stomach.

Seth went to the back of the truck and pulled out Leander's suitcase and backpack. He followed them into the house chuckling at Leander's growling stomach.

"Yes sir, but I didn't get any desert," Leander accused as he followed him into the house.

Two hours later the young conspirators retired to Seth's room for Leander's 'room choice' and Bracken's farewell.

"That went well," Seth said satisfied with the night's work.

"We will see how the next few days play out. I need to find a way to fall asleep in the building," Leander said.

"Well, you will have to roam around, that ought to tire you out. While you are gone searching in Fablehaven, I can go bring home some of your hoard." Seth winked conspiratorially. "How many people know where your hoard is?"

"No one knows where it is, Seth," Leander said surprised. "All dragons keep their hoards secret. Didn't you know that? I always enter it invisible and anyway it's in Wyrmroost."

"Wyrmroost? That may be a problem. Not only is it dangerous, Celebrant doesn't let just anyone in," Bracken said. "We've returned the scroll, I can't think of any reason to get Seth in there."

"Let me think about it overnight I may come up with something," Seth said, the blaze of an impending treasure hunt gleamed in his eyes.

Kendra could see the wheels turning as his eyes flitted back and forth. He was devious and a born schemer.

"Oh! I need to tell them you've decided to stay with me in the attic," Seth exclaimed, popped out of his chair and ran out the door.

"I've got to go too," Bracken said and he got up from his chair.

"I'll see you out," Kendra said and went with him leaving Leander alone in the attic room.

Leander didn't know whether to go with them or just stay, they hadn't specifically invited him so he stayed. He went to work moving in, emptying his suitcase into the dresser drawers Seth had designated for him, enjoying the hominess of it all.

Leander was more comfortable that night when he didn't have to sneak around to take a shower. He lay in the bed listening to Seth's sleepy breathing. The house was quiet. He was warm, tired and his stomach was full again. He was even happier about his life now that the Caretakers accepted he was human and a tracker. Best of all he was still friends with Bracken, Seth and Kendra. He fell asleep comforted by that thought.

The next morning Seth brought Leander down for breakfast early. Kendra was up early as usual so she was surprised when Seth accompanied Leander down. Seth was always the last one up.

Grandma Ruth was in the kitchen with Kendra, the other adults had already left for early morning chores.

"Sorry, I didn't come up with anything yet but I haven't given up," Seth whispered as he yawned. He sat at the table on one side of Kendra.

"Good morning, something certainly smells delicious," Leander said, smiling as he sat at the table on the other side of Kendra.

Kendra smiled back at him. He certainly knew how to get on the good side of Grandma Ruth. He had been a polite dragon and she was glad he kept that part of Raxtus. He was handsome, charming and had an easy natural way about him. It was hard to believe he was new at being human.

"What would you like? We have pancakes or eggs with bacon this morning or would you like both?" Grandma Ruth asked him.

"Could I have both, please? It smells so good," he said politely. He was starving… again.

"I'll make toast. Seth, you want toast?" Kendra asked as she got up from the table.

"No, I'd rather go back to bed," he yawned again and laid his head on the table.

"_What_ do you want to eat Seth?" Grandma Ruth asked insistently. "You can't go back to bed so forget it. Your dad and grandfather wanted me to tell you that your job is to give Leander all the support he needs. You have work to do – helping him get to know the layout of Fablehaven."

So much for dragon hoard hunting, Seth thought and groaned.

"Okay, I'll take pancakes so I don't need toast," he said and sat up. "Kendra can we have some milk? I can't speak for Leander but I like knowing what is running around in front of me."

Kendra was standing next to the refrigerator so he wasn't being extremely rude by asking.

"Sure," Kendra said surprised that she had forgotten that Leander would need milk just as much as her brother did or at least they had to pretend that he did.

"We use Viola's milk here," Seth clarified. "She is the largest magic milch cow in the United States. Her mom is in Europe somewhere, she is a little bigger but not much. Anyway we send a lot of different sanctuaries her milk. Some people don't like walrus butter." Seth made a face meaning he was one of those people. He kept some in his emergency kit because it was easy to carry and didn't spoil, but it was just for that – emergencies.

Kendra poured the milk into glasses and sat them down in front of the two boys. Leander took a drink but made no comment as Seth downed his immediately.

"Drink up, you will need it," he whispered.

Leander finished his glass of milk just as his plate of food was set in front of him.

"Looks great, thank you," he said and immediately started eating as his stomach grumbled again.

They left the garden headed for the 'scene of the crime' as Seth put it. They loaded up their backpacks and were ready for adventure.

"Wow! I didn't see how many fairies were here yesterday when we left," Leander said. "Hmm, I don't remember seeing any fairies since I flew over Fablehaven the other day."

"Sorry, that's because I forgot to get you some milk, humans need something to help them see magic creatures, we use Viola's milk. I'm sorry I didn't think that you would need milk. When you didn't react to the fairies swarming around Bracken last night when we got home I remembered. But with everything that went on I lost my thought until this morning or I would have said something last night to sort of prepare you," he apologized.

"Those bugs swarming around us were fairies? Wow, I didn't realize that humans don't 'see' without help.

"I'm learning to keep my mouth shut until I am sure what I need to say. You are very good at what you do Seth but I can't expect you to remember to tell me everything I need to know before I need to know it," Leander told him appreciatively.

"Thanks, I'm trying," Seth shrugged. He looked at Leander but he was just smiling and eager to go. This was the first time he seemed something more than just a teenager like him. As a dragon, he was playful and young, as human he seemed just like a normal teenager. For a moment, there was evidence of a deeper maturity, something Seth hadn't seen before. Now it was gone and his friend was just as anxious as he was to get to the little barn.

Kendra had gone in the opposite direction to wait for Bracken in the Pavilion Garden. They were all going to the place where Raxtus disappeared. Seth and Leander wouldn't be able to find it unless Kendra was with them but Bracken wanted to be there, also.

Bracken and Kendra met up with them at the cairn stone marker near the building. Both Leander and Seth were facing away from the building; Kendra could see it plainly directly behind them.

"So take us to the 'scene of the crime'," Seth asked.

"Where is it?" Leander asked.

"Right behind you," she said smiling knowing that he couldn't turn around and look.

He turned and said, "I don't see anything." His mind refused to see anything. He thought he had turned all the way around when in fact he hadn't.

"I know," she said to him. "Just hold on tight don't let go. Leander grab Bracken's arm."

She reached out and held Seth's hand. "Off we go. Oh… um, close your eyes, it helps." She instructed Leander.

Kendra turned Seth in a complete circle first, she knew better than to head toward the building immediately. Kendra and Bracken headed for the building followed by two pair of unwilling feet.

"Are you sure we are going the right way?" Seth asked.

"Yes. Seth, just keep walking and don't let go," Bracken said. "Leander, how are you doing?"

"This feeling is very strange, I don't want to go where you are leading but I will trust you," he said.

"That's all we can ask, we are almost there," Kendra said as she took the last few steps to the safe zone. Seth was dragging his feet but he was silently moving forward.

Bracken was pulling Leander along now.

Seth's reached the interior of unwarded circle and his feet stopped dragging as he took his final step into safe zone of the building.

"We are here 'cause I don't want to walk in the other direction," Seth said as he opened his eyes. Leander opened his eyes too.

"Yes we are here. Look where you are standing because if you go out further than you are the spell will immediately compel you to start running away from the building." Kendra told them both. She had told Seth before but it always helped to remind him.

Bracken pulled one of the large doors open.

"It is so much bigger than I remember," Leander said as he walked in looking around. He saw his dragon footprints on the dirt floor. "Well, there definitely was a dragon here," he said stone faced and deadly serious pointing at the prints on the floor.

Seth burst out laughing; he thought Leander sounded like an exaggerated TV detective.

Leander smiled he liked making Seth laugh. He squatted down by the large footprint and stretched his hand out over it. His fingers stretched from side to side inside the large pad or palm print. It was a good sized foot, he thought, longer than his human foot and wider than his out stretched fingers and his clawed toes were even longer.

"Sleepy dragon," he said and pointed. He noticed how the back feet had dragged in the dirt indications of his drowsiness when he left. He also noted the evenly spaced grid of footprints that Stan had made. He had carefully stepped over each print to keep from disturbing them.

Bracken was amazed that Leander was actually looking carefully. He was responding to something from the evidence, he apparently had a natural knack for tracking.

"It's up to me as usual to have the gear for the job," Seth said. He pulled the backpack off his back and sat it on the floor. He sat down next to it and pulled out a beach towel and a small camping pillow. "I didn't think you'd want to sleep with your face in the dirt," he told Leander.

"That's very considerate of you Seth," Kendra said.

"It's very serene in here isn't it," Leander said as he walked the perimeter of the large open space.

Kendra, Seth and Bracken stayed at the door watching Leander wander around. Seth wondered what was going through his mind. His face was unusually uncommunicative and impossible to read at the moment.

"What is this?" he asked as he neared the broken pieces of the table that made his change possible.

"It's the ritual tab…" Kendra started to tell him.

"That's it! That's how we can get back into Wyrmroost." Bracken exclaimed. "They will want the table back, it has the carving on it and that isn't something that should be left sitting around."

"Yes, it is an interesting design," he said staring at the top as he walked around it. "Why is it broken?"

"Don't touch it! I don't know if it could do something to you," Bracken told him. "Raxtus fell on it and broke it. It was part of the spell. We will move it out of the building later so we can take it to Wyrmroost."

"So am I just going to be a helper to drag this stuff back? How am I going to run around to get his stuff?" Seth asked indignantly.

"I can't think of everything Seth, if I get you into Wyrmroost the rest will be up to you. You need to put a little effort into it," Bracken goaded him good naturedly.

"So… Raxtus went to sleep right here beside this table?" Leander looked at the scuff marks on the ground, the overlapping dragon and human footprints and the scale imprints in the dirt. He could see the imprint of his wingtip several feet away.

"Yes, that is where you were," Kendra answered walking up and standing next to him also looking at the disturbed ground. She shivered at the memory.

He noticed the grimace on her face and her shiver. She must be thinking of something that occurred that she didn't like, he thought. He disliked that he couldn't remember what had happened. He looked around the room again in one sweeping glance.

Time to try to sleep, he walked over to Seth with a look of determination and took the towel and pillow from him. He walked back to the disturbed ground, spread the towel out over the imprint of dragon scales and lay down on his side pushing the pillow under his head.

"Sweet dreams," Kendra said as she walked back to the door to stand with her brother and Bracken.

"Good luck," Seth chuckled.

"Thanks," he replied and closed his eyes.

Seth, Kendra and Bracken watched him as his breathing slowed.

"Let's play a quiet game of Garbage," Seth softly challenged them and pulled a deck of cards from his backpack. He shuffled quietly and dealt the cards. They sat on the ground next to Seth and played. Occasionally one of them would look over at Leander to see if he was dreaming yet.

"Uh-huh!" Seth finally positively commented as he turned back to the game.

"Good," both Bracken and Kendra sighed.

"Oh, we didn't bring extra milk." Seth whispered and hit his forehead. "When he wakes up he will need milk again. At least I have walrus butter. Funny how we talked about it and I didn't snap to him going to sleep and needing more milk." Seth was disappointed in his lack of forethought.

"He doesn't need milk, he's a dragon," Bracken said softly shaking his head.

"But he does. He couldn't see the fairies last night and he commented on it this morning." Seth replied confused at Bracken's claim.

"Huh?" This was strange news for Bracken. He didn't understand its implication.

They had just started their second game when they heard Leander moan and looked to see his body twitching; his eyes swiftly moving back and forth. He was having a very energetic dream.

_Raxtus was flying high above Fablehaven with Kendra in his grip. He was soaring happily toward the main building. He wanted badly to recapture the thrilling feeling of being human. It had faded rapidly when he walked toward her to grasp her waist with his foot and clawed toes._

_His muscles stretched as his wing cut through the air. He didn't have to work hard to rise, carrying Kendra's extra weight. He knew how much she loved to fly and he was enjoying flying with her._

_He could see the huge barn in the distance knowing just beyond lay his destination. Excitement hit him again as he tried to remember the feeling, the emotions of being human and how she had felt in his arms when she hugged him. He felt himself wanting to be human so badly that he inexplicably became his avatar in mid air. However, this was not a normal invoking, he did not flash into his avatar. He slowly transformed into a man and as his large front foot became a small human hand, he lost his grip on Kendra. As he dove to catch her, his wings disappeared and they both fell from the sky._

"No!" he yelled, his arms flailing as he reached for Kendra in vain. His heart was pounding in his chest as he suddenly sat up wide awake on the floor of the little barn. His startled friends stared at him and he stared back as he adjusted to the lack of a real emergency.

"What?" Seth asked excited, already in a half crouch ready for action of some kind.

"Oh! I was dreaming that I fell from the sky," Leander apologized for frightening them. He took a deep breath relieved that it was just a dream, a terrifying dream, but just a dream. He had dreams as a dragon, tons of them but they never affected him physically like this.

"No dreams about the girl?" Seth asked disappointed as he sat back down on the dirt floor.

"No, nothing," he answered disappointed himself.

"What do we do now?" Kendra asked to no one in particular.

They sat silent for a few moments expectantly watching Leander. He had to look away from them to think. He stared at the scale prints on the floor next to him. The girl seemed to know he was a dragon, seemed to know that he needed to invoke his avatar. He knew his mind was so different when he was a dragon maybe she could only reach him if he was a one.

"Hmm, maybe it is my dragon mind she found. I'm human maybe she can't find me this way," Leander sullenly decided.

Bracken wondered about that. Was Leander too human? That he needed milk to see magical creatures was bizarre and unsettling. He reverted to his dragon form once shortly after he first invoked his new avatar. Could he do it again?

Leander stood, walked to where Seth was sitting and handed the towel and pillow back to him. "I won't need these," he sighed. He felt almost like he was invoking his puny fairy-boy avatar instead reverting to his dragon form. He dreaded feeling Raxtus' emotions.

_If I fall asleep fast I won't have to put up with it long_, he thought. He walked to the center of the room and took a deep breath, light flashed and Raxtus stood where Leander had been. Without a word, he curled into a ball, wrapped his tail tightly around his body and tucked his head under his wing and closed his eyes.

Bracken sighed with relief. He was still a dragon.

Kendra and Seth sat still for a few minutes watching the dragon slowly breathing and then finally went back to their game of cards.

An hour later the dragon stirred, his head rose abruptly. Light flashed and Leander sat on the ground.

"I have to go to the cabin. NOW!" he yelled, excitement shown in his eyes. He jumped up from the ground and headed for the door running, he stopped at the door and struggled with the latch.

"I'll go with you," Bracken said as Leander opened the door. "Kendra, together he and I can run there really fast. You and Seth can follow at your own pace."

He ran out the door following Leander, who was sprinting through the distractor spell.

"Ok!" she called as they disappeared across the grassy field.

"That was unexpected," Seth said. He was already repacking his backpack.


	19. Listening to Whispers

Listening to whispers

Based on characters from Fablehaven© by Brandon Mull. The original characters and plot details are my property. No copyright infringement intended.

"Warren's cabin is on the other side of the sanctuary. It will take us until dark to get there at our own pace, especially if I have to carry all of this. Have a fairy call Hugo for us," Seth said grumpily as he slung his pack on his back and picked up the other two they had left behind in their rush. He pulled Bracken's pack up on one shoulder and Leander's on the other.

"Good idea," she said, struggling with her own pack. "We have to get past the wards first."

As soon as they got to the cairn stones, she sensed a fairy long moments before she actually spied her. She was tiny, just a little bigger than a bumble bee and just as round with tiny crimson wings.

"Do you know me?" she asked the fairy.

"Yes, Kendra," the fairy blushed, nodded her head and flew up to her.

"Please do me the honor of your service. I need to get the golem Hugo to come to me as soon as possible, we are headed that way." She pointed. "Do you think you can help me? It's not an emergency but if he isn't too busy we need his assistance," Kendra asked the tiny fairy.

She nodded again and was off in a flash.

Kendra and Seth headed toward the cabin not knowing how long it would take the golem to find them or even if he would. Ten minutes later, they could hear the thunderous footfalls of the huge golem.

The little fairy flew up to Kendra grinning just as Hugo came into view.

"You did well, thank you so much for your help. You are so beautiful and so very fast," Kendra complemented her. "We have to go now. Thank you again."

The fairy made a fancy pirouette and giggled at the compliment.

"Hugo, we need to get to Warren's cabin as fast as you can get us there," Seth told him.

He lowered his arms and they scrambled up, one on each of his huge arms. Seth and Kendra leaned back against the hard dirt and rocky armor of Hugo's chest. When he had them securely positioned, he ran as fast as he could.

Seth thought about hanging the backpacks on the jutting stones on Hugo's shoulders but the way he was jogging the packs would have bounced off and wound up on the ground so he hugged them to him as they quickly made their way across Fablehaven.

It only took Hugo forty-five minutes to get to the cabin.

Leander was flat on his back on the porch breathing heavily from his run and Bracken stood over Leander watching him with a concerned look on his face. They had just arrived themselves.

"What's happening?" Kendra asked as she climbed down from Hugo's arm. "Why did you need to get here so fast?"

"I dreamt of her again … somehow I knew … I needed to be here," Leander gasped trying to catch his breath.

"Anybody here?" she asked looking around.

Bracken shook his head.

Bracken wasn't breathless like Leander but it was obvious that they had run hard. However, it was almost past Leander's capability.

Kendra took the water pack to Leander. He sat up on the porch floor but didn't stand. He drank deeply. Bracken did the same. Both of them were looking almost normal now.

"What did she look like?" She asked.

"She wasn't a physical presence it was all mental. I didn't see her. I couldn't tell you if she was a dragon, human, or a spirit. But I do know that it was a 'she'. She was helpful, caring and her aura was light so she couldn't have been a demon. She had the feeling of floating in space, nebulous ethereal. No notion of time like she had just been waiting for me to show up," he said dreamily.

Seth followed Kendra to the porch and was in the process of unloading the three backpacks when he suddenly felt prickles on the back of his neck. He stopped and listened to a soft whisper. Wide eyed, he put up his hand. "Shhhh, listen," he whispered.

They were silent for a moment, and then Bracken shook his head and whispered, "What?"

"I hear whispering, shadows, something of the shadow is nearby," he whispered. He cocked his head to listen closer. He shrugged out of his backpack and quietly sat it on the porch. He moved slowly, stealthily, past the front door into the cabin.

Hugo trembled in an attempt to follow but the ward held him back. He remained in the garden.

Bracken extended his hand to Leander and pulled him up from the floor and they all followed Seth into the cabin watching him as he listened.

"Here," he whispered his eyes closed. "Right here!" he held out his hands as if he was feeling something. He stood a few feet from the northeast corner of the room near the bed; he opened his eyes to see where he was.

Kendra noticed that Seth was within a foot of where she found Leander that first day and looked over at him as he looked over at her.

"'Dragon listen' is what I'm hearing. It is so soft," Seth said his face was uncertain, his eyes narrowed as he listened.

"How can I go to sleep here?" Leander said, unsure if he should be following the instructions that only Seth could hear, words whispered by something or someone 'dark'.

"You can't change here," she said to him. "It's not possible, it's warded against any creature but human's entering."

"But he is human now. What if he changes while he is already in the cabin, it won't spit him out will it?" Seth rationalized but was still uncertain. "Bracken?"

"He's too big, he will break the cabin," Kendra said crossly.

"I don't think so," Bracken said looking around, "and I think Seth is right it won't force him to leave if he changes inside the cabin. Since I am here, my shield protects us from eavesdroppers but I didn't affect the dream in the building so he should be able to contact her here.

"You were drawn here," Bracken addressed Leander and reassured him. "The girl had you invoke your avatar here and no one hurt you all the hours you were here alone.

"I can heal you if you need it. Seth can keep the fear away if it is a bad entity. We can wake you up. Hugo is here to help and Kendra or I can get other help here at a moment's notice. I think you are safe enough," Bracken concluded.

Leander seemed in a quandary so Kendra led him to the table and pushed him to sit down.

"Let's get something to eat and drink. We don't know how long this will take. You are already tired. Rest a little first," Kendra said to Leander and then she looked at the others too.

"But he's going to go to sleep!" Seth insisted.

"Well, it is stressful, Seth. It is not like I'm getting any rest," Leander stated grateful to be sitting down, his stomach growled and he was ready to listen to anything Kendra had to say if it included eating at the same time.

Kendra unloaded her daypack with quite a feast. They sat quietly and ate the food.

When they were finished, they moved all of the furniture to one side of the cabin. They were all thinking it was a very good thing Raxtus was a small dragon.

"We can do this together, you wanted to find her. This may be the only way," Bracken said encouragingly.

"We are with you Leander. I can hold your arm so if the shadow tries to frighten you I will counter it," Seth said as he reached out and grabbed his forearm.

"Sleep Leander, I know you're tired from your run," Kendra said soothingly.

"I still hear the voice whispering. So I will hear anything she says to you, if it starts getting threatening I'll wake you up. Okay?" Seth added. He backed up to let Leander do his dragon thing.

"Okay!" Leander closed his eyes and took a deep breath. With a bright flash Raxtus was in front of them. Kendra heard the floorboards creak but they held. Raxtus curled into a ball as before and put his head under his wing again. The dragon took several deep breaths and relaxed. Seth sat down next to Raxtus. He laid his hand on the dragon's forearm and closed his eyes. Kendra sat next to the front door, keeping a clear view of them. She sat quietly listening to the two of them breathe.

Bracken sat down next to Kendra and put his arm around her, he gave her a consoling smile and a wink. She smiled back.

She snuggled close to him hoping that this went well and Leander would find out what he needed to know and that none of their defensive skills, spells or magical backup would be needed. She didn't know it but Bracken thought the exact same thing.

Raxtus fell into a light sleep and Seth heard the whispers coming from him too. The same whispers 'Dragon listen, dragon sleep.'

When Bracken was sure he was asleep he whispered to Kendra.

"I don't understand why he is so human-like, he should have extraordinary stamina. He should have been able to run like that for hours. He eats like a growing teenage boy instead of a dragon avatar and he definitely shouldn't need milk to see magical creatures. This isn't normal something strange is going on." He shook his head and watched as Raxtus breathed slowly, showing he was sound asleep. "I'm surprised he could invoke his dragon form."

Kendra was shocked at Bracken's revelations. Even if he wasn't a normal dragon avatar he was definitely a normal human and that was what Leander wanted.

"Maybe the spell did something different than we thought. No one had ever performed it successfully before maybe he will be totally human when he isn't in his dragon form," she whispered back. She wondered what was happening, as she watched the dragon and his brother, they needed to be very alert now.

"Hmm?" was Bracken's only reply. He sat silently watching as he held Kendra close to him hoping that they hadn't given Raxtus another problem instead of solving the ones he had.

As Raxtus fell into a deeper sleep, another voice became stronger and communication was established. Seth fell into a slight trance as he emptied his mind to listen to the voices.

"You did well? You're proud of your avatar?" the female voice asked Raxtus, curious and happy the young dragon had come back to speak to her.

"Yes, I am happy with it," he answered. She doesn't know; she can't tell, he thought happily.

"What magic or skills do you have?" she asked.

"I have none," he answered bluntly, unwilling to reveal that he could turn invisible.

"What? You should have developed skills while you were growing. You were able to invoke your avatar. How could you not have other skills?" she said, astonished.

"No, I wasn't able to develop any of my dragon magic skills. It is complicated," he said evasively.

Another voice abruptly attracted Seth's attention, a different female voice, the dark voice.

"Help us please! I can hear you. Oh! … shadow charmer? I need your help. We're trapped and can't get out. The she-dragon can't hear me at all. The young dragon can hear me sometimes. I am stuck here with her. I am a shadow charmer like you. Please help us," the female voice begged Seth.

"I hear you. What are you doing there? Don't lie, I can tell if you are," Seth replied.

"Aaaah, I can tell you are a very powerful Shadowmaster. For me to hear you tells me much. Something attacked us, almost killed us so our only resort was to shade-share. The dragon was poisoned and fell into a deep sleep. I have been here with her ever since. I don't know how long. Time means nothing here. I have been surviving on her dreams or I would have gone insane. When she connected with the young one I hoped that we could be rescued," the voice was even more hopeful now.

Seth could hear Raxtus and the dragon talking. That was how he heard the dragon's voice because it echoed through the shadow charmer's mind. He was sure that they couldn't hear their conversation.

"Who tried to kill the dragon and for what reason?" he asked suddenly angry.

"Even here it is dangerous to speak the name of the dark dragon who is the demon prince and his reasons are his own," the female voice replied cautiously, hearing the anger in his voice.

"Oh, do you mean Navarog? He is dead," Seth said unconcerned, there was only one demon prince dragon.

"He is dead? How? … Never mind. It is good news if true. It may mean we are safe if you can find us and release us. Please," she begged.

"Where are you?" he asked

"We are in a cave. She dragged us deeper than I could have imagined before she fell into a deep sleep. The cut severely poisoned her but not fatally. You must be close if you both can hear us as well as you can."

Seth was amazed he could still catch what Raxtus was talking about also. He was listening to two conversations. Suddenly Raxtus' conversation was much more interesting.

"Listen to me! I am going to trigger a memory in you. So you must remember the first thing that comes into your mind when I say the trigger word. Do you understand?" the soft female voice prompted him.

"How can you do that?" he asked curiously.

"Not important how I do it just that I know how. Do you understand? Are you ready?" the stern voice asked him.

"Yes I do. I am ready," Raxtus replied.

"This is it. Yærtgupiti#i*," the female voice warbled strangely and their link was broken.

"Aaaah?" Raxtus lifted his head up, suddenly wide awake.


	20. Cavern

Cavern

Based on characters from Fablehaven© by Brandon Mull. The original characters and plot details are my property. No copyright infringement intended.

Seth woke from his light trance startled by the sudden movement as Raxtus pulled away from him.

"Wow that was an interesting dream you had Raxtus," Seth said smiling.

"Dream? That was a dream?" Raxtus was troubled. He knew it wasn't just a dream. What he had just remembered wasn't what he wanted to know, it made no sense to him.

'Shadowmaster, find us, Shadowmaster, we are here.' Seth heard the whispered voice again.

"Oops… maybe it wasn't a dream. I know where they are."

"They?" Bracken asked. He and Kendra were at attention because of their sudden movements. Raxtus looked dazed.

"Oh, I guess you didn't hear all of that," Seth apologized.

"The 'girl' is a female dragon trapped in a cave with a 'girl' shadow charmer. He heard them both but thought they were the same person. I know where they are so we can go get them," he explained.

"Can she hear you now?" Bracken asked as he moved closer to them. He didn't like that the dark entity was a shadow charmer, beside Seth all of the shadow charmers he had ever heard of from the past were evil.

"I suppose so. I can still hear her whispering to me to help them."

"Don't change until Seth is out of the cabin," Bracken whispered to Raxtus.

Raxtus was busy trying to remember what he was supposed to remember but he was very confused. He nodded, barely understanding him, still feeling a bit dazed.

"Tell her we will start searching for them in the morning. We need to talk, but not here," Bracken told him. "Get Seth out of here before Leander shows up," he whispered to Kendra as he checked Raxtus over, he was confused and hadn't tried to get up.

Seth cleared his mind and listened for the voice of the other shadow charmer.

"What is your name?" Seth sent his voice toward the whispering voice.

"Unleea," she answered.

"Unleea, I know where you are. We will be back in the morning ready to find you."

"Thank you!" she cried with relief. "I await your arrival, Shadowmaster."

Seth opened his eyes and smiled. "Ok, all done. She is excited," he said enthusiastically at his perceived act of chivalry.

"Good; now go wait with Hugo," Kendra shooed her brother out of the cabin.

"OK," he muttered, his feeling hurt, it wasn't the reaction he was expecting. He picked up his backpack and left, huffing indignantly.

Kendra and Bracken packed up their trash, decided not to move the furniture back and left the cabin, a dazed Leander following behind. Bracken carried Leander's backpack along with his.

Leander was exhausted and not feeling well and sat on the porch steps. "Seth what are you doing? What is that?" He watched Seth climb on the mound of dirt piled high in front of the cabin. He watched as he stuck a backpack on a rock sticking out of the pile of dirt and rocks.

"Putting our packs on Hugo," Seth said.

"That pile of dirt? That doesn't look like Hugo," he said confused. He thought Seth was joking with him again.

"You can't see Hugo?" Bracken asked.

"No, it's a pile of dirt and rocks. Seth is joking," he explained moodily, not feeling well. He didn't appreciate the joke.

"Hugo shake hands with Leander," Bracken asked the golem.

Leander scrambled back onto the porch as the pile of dirt moved toward him.

"This isn't funny. I know what Hugo looks like," he said, warily.

"Did you have milk this morning?" Bracken asked.

"Yes, what does…" he started to say.

"He went to sleep, now he can't see the magical creatures," Seth interrupted and finished Bracken's troubled thought.

"He is a dragon; he should be able to see them without milk," Bracken explained, he had thought that Seth had been mistaken before.

"Oh?" Seth muttered at his unexpected statement. "I told you he didn't see the fairies until this morning after he had milk."

"What does that mean?" Leander asked, too tired to be troubled or realize Bracken's concern.

"It means that you are human and need to drink milk like Seth. That is all that means," Kendra answered, glaring at Bracken.

"Oh, okay, I guess that is what I need to do," Leander accepted with exhausted complacency.

"Just close your eyes, you're tired. Hugo will carry you back and you won't notice a thing," she said.

Hugo carried all of them back to the main house. Kendra looked at Bracken as she noticed just how exhausted Leander was. Bracken shrugged and shook his head. He didn't know why he should be so tired. They were both concerned about his all too human condition.

Kendra asked Hugo not to run, so it was early evening when they arrived back at the house. Leander dozed all the way.

Leander slouched in the big arm chair in the den as the four planned what they would do the next day. His face was a kaleidoscope of confusion, he looked stunned or in shock. Still he helped plan the next day's outing.

"How did your first day go?" Scott asked at dinner that night.

"I have clues where to begin my search tomorrow, if I can use Seth's assistance again. It would be a great help," Leander replied after he swallowed between bites, remembering what Kendra had taught him.

"Wonderful!" Grandpa Stan said as Seth nodded in agreement.

"We might need Hugo too," Seth suggested.

"Hugo might be useful," Leander agreed nodding his head. He yawned. He had never felt so tired in his whole life nor felt so hungry. He wondered if being human was always such exhausting and hungry work. Leander ate everything they put in front of him and asked for more.

Seth was beginning to wonder if he was a bottomless pit. He did slow down on his third plate but he finished it.

"Navarog tried to kill the dragon with poison but she survived," Seth told them when they got to his room. He repeated the conversation with the shadow charmer.

Leander collapsed on his bed and closed his eyes. He was tired and he was very full. He yawned again and was quiet. He tried to listen, but he was unable to focus.

"Navarog… tried to kill her? That had to have been a long time ago before they locked him up in the Quiet Box. He was there long before Grandpa Sorenson took over Fablehaven," Kendra said.

"We have no idea how long they have been stuck hiding out there, she didn't have a clue how long it had been," Seth replied.

"Dragons can hibernate for centuries. I've never heard of a shadow charmer living that long. Yes! I know. The Sphinx is the obvious exception, but he had help.

"I had never heard of shade-sharing either. I don't know what it does to the shadow charmer. I don't know if I'd trust that shadow charmer… Huh! I wouldn't even have given it a second thought before I met you Seth. You changed the way I think about shadow charmers." Bracken told them grudgingly.

"She called me Shadowmaster," Seth added wondering what it meant.

"Well… well… well!" Bracken laughed. "I guess killing two major demons and wielding the sword Vasilis left its mark on you." Bracken looked at him appraisingly. "Shadowmaster is a very old term. Only shadow charmers know their Shadowmasters, and only they could recognize the traits and the power," Bracken told him. "Ha! Not even the Sphinx could claim to be a Shadowmaster. I'll bet he was surprised when he came back and recognized you as a one. Maybe that is one reason he signed up to be an ancient," he said thoughtfully.

"Why?" Seth asked looking at Bracken suspiciously.

"Maybe I shouldn't tell you." Bracken looked at him uncertainly.

"If you think you shouldn't maybe you shouldn't," Kendra said. She noticed Bracken's reluctance and was also uncertain if the information was necessary. The title Shadowmaster sounded ominous.

"Nah, you can't do that, you gotta tell me now," Seth whined.

"Now that you know there is something to it – you will find out anyway," Bracken rationalized looking at Kendra. "I might as well tell him," he said to her. He sighed but sat looking sadly at Kendra.

"So are you going to tell me?" Seth asked after a few moments when it looked like Bracken was just going to stare at Kendra for the rest of the night.

"Shadowmasters can command any Shadow Charmer along with almost all dark creatures. The only exceptions are demons, though some of the lesser demons are even susceptible to your commands. Your power is quite formidable now," Bracken said quite seriously then turning toward Seth he smiled.

Kendra groaned. Great, that's just what Seth needed, more power. Damn, she thought.

Seth sat listening intently but seeing Bracken's sudden smile he broke up laughing. "You are so funny! Do you think I'm going to believe that?"

"Oh well, it was worth a try!" Bracken laughed.

Kendra looked at him hopefully, was he kidding with Seth?

"So what does it really mean?" he pressed, no longer laughing.

"Nothing really, just a kiss ass term when you want someone to do something for you," Bracken said flippantly.

"No really! What does it mean?" Seth was getting exasperated with all the teasing.

"I told you but you didn't believe me." Bracken arched his eyebrow as he looked at Seth.

"No way… really? I can command any Shadow Charmer and all the dark ones? Wicked!" Seth yowled with glee and danced across the floor.

"See, I told you. You shouldn't have told him. He will get ghosts to do things just because he can. I'll never get any rest now. I'll have ghosts scaring me at all hours of the day and night," Kendra complained. Damn and double damn, she cursed to herself, that's all he needed … more power.

"The power is absolute so you have great responsibility. If you misuse it you _will_ regret it," Bracken told him very seriously. "I had to tell him Kendra, he could do himself and others a lot of damage," he apologized to her.

"I won't misuse it. I haven't so far. Have I?" Seth said indignantly.

"Haven't you?" Kendra looked at him cynically.

"Not too much," Seth defended himself weakly. "Ok. I will tone it down now that I know how dangerous it is and how much power I actually have. I might have done something really stupid goofing around. Not even knowing I could really do it." He remembered something stupid he thought of doing that would have been a disaster if he hadn't decided at the last minute against doing it.

"Yeah, well I hope you learn quickly."

"Leander, what do you want do in the morning?"

"Leander?"

They all looked over at Leander. He was sound asleep lightly snoring.

"Wow, he was asleep almost all day and now he is sound asleep," Seth said amazed.

"He may have been sleeping but he wasn't getting any rest. Did you see how much he ate? He had to replenish himself but he is getting some rest now. The wards in this room are allowing him to really rest," Bracken smiled, though he still worried about him. "I'm glad he has this place to go to. It will protect him during the night. So the sooner we release them the sooner his secret will be safe again."

"I think the bond broke there at the end. She made some strange sound then the link was gone. Whatever she did with that sound, I think Raxtus' got all the guiding he's gonna get," Seth said, watching his friend sleep undisturbed by their conversation.

Leander slept and he dreamed.

_Raxtus sat comfortably on his hoard feeling the dragon magic building inside him. He felt the elements stream in an intense flood into his body as each one inhabited the places left empty by the removal of the fairy magic. They fit as if they had always belonged there. It was up to him how to use his newly found strength and power._

_The wall of his secret cave unexpectedly burst inward as his father forced his way in. Raxtus rose to his full height to confront his father and to protect his treasure and lair. Celebrant towered over him, he scanned and sensed his son as he would an opponent and then he laughed, "Weak fire? Humph. You will never be anything but a runt."_

_Raxtus breathed fire for the first time, it lasted a fraction of a second and traveled a few feet. His father huffed scornfully, "Embarrassing," turned his back and shaking his head walked out of the cave. Humiliated, Raxtus fell to his belly on his treasure and tucked his head under his wings._

Startled Leander suddenly woke up, wondering where he was, who he was. The bad dream faded rapidly as he realized he was in Seth's room, moonlight filtering through the window outlined the furniture. He touched his face with human hands and he was reassured.

He heard Seth lightly snoring in the bed next to him a comforting sound he knew he was safe. The lighted clock read 3:00; he yawned and closed his eyes again.

He fell back to sleep.


	21. Digging for Answers

Digging for Answers

Based on characters from Fablehaven© by Brandon Mull. The original characters and plot details are my property. No copyright infringement intended.

Leander woke early, he felt rested and more at ease. That is until he thought about what he had been through the day before. He sat on the edge of the bed and thought about what had actually happened. The trigger for his memory was the most exhausting thing he had ever experienced. Even more exhausting than the hot and tiring run to the cabin though that probably contributed to his fatigue.

The triggered memory was not what he was anticipating. It was nonsense, a non-memory. He definitely wasn't going to share the information with anyone until he was sure what it meant.

He hadn't been human long but he was comfortable as one, more comfortable than he had ever been as a dragon. This is what he had dreamed of – being normal. He didn't want to lose this feeling so he needed protect himself and his secret.

The afternoon had been confusing and tiring, he was grateful that he hadn't had to walk home from the cabin. Rested now, he wondered what the new day would bring. Since he had become human each day seemed filled with one revelation after another. It couldn't go on like this. It eventually had to settle into a normal life – didn't it?

With the knowledge that someone wanted his family dead, it was very important to find out what was going on. He didn't want anyone else finding out about his new status. He needed to give Bracken time to find out whom they could trust besides his small circle of friends.

This ruse of looking for Raxtus was fun. Finding the position of the lost girls was exciting. Today would be even more so but he couldn't let it show. Focus, he told himself, he was a tracker looking for a lost dragon. What would he be doing if that was his focus today? This was his second day here at Fablehaven at least officially. Routine search for clues was where he needed to center his attention.

Seth was sleeping comfortably and had explained that he liked to sleep in. He didn't usually get up early as he had yesterday morning. There was no reason for him to get up this early anyway.

Leander was still wearing his clothes from the day before and he felt 'grimy' and smelled dirty so he grabbed some clean clothes and his bag of toiletries and left the room quietly.

He liked how the shower had felt each time. The shiver down his spine as the spray of hot water hit him was just as enjoyable this time as he washed the sweat and dirt of the past day off his body.

Rubbing the towel over his body to dry off was pleasant. Even in this little thing he was enjoying himself. After a few painful tugs he brushed out his wet tangle of hair. He tried out his toothbrush for the first time and found it an interesting experience. He liked the taste and feel of the foamy minty paste in his mouth. Spitting was fun too.

He stared at his face in the mirror, wiped toothpaste off his lips and smiled. It was a nice smile with nice teeth. He looked down at his naked body. It was a good strong body. Flexing his muscles he didn't feel soreness from his long run yesterday. He felt his smile widen and looked up into the mirror to see he was correct. His blue eyes glistened with happiness.

He put on his clean thrift shop clothes, smoothing out the wrinkles, fumbling with buttons, snaps and zippers. He sat on the toilet seat to put on his socks and shoes. Thankfully there were no laces. Leander had watched Seth tie his shoes once, and like the gauze belt he had no clue how to do it.

He remember Seth had said something about Ruth being suspicious if he didn't have dirty clothes to wash so he wrapped his dirty clothes in his damp towel and took them with him.

When he opened the bathroom door he heard Bracken and Kendra voices from downstairs. His heart pounded with fear then with excitement as he realized he didn't need to hide. He was normal. He was expected. He was with friends.

His stomach growled as the smells of breakfast cooking also came from downstairs. Again he wanted to see what was happening in a normal kitchen on a normal morning as he hurried down the flight of stairs.

Bracken and Kendra were sitting at the kitchen table eating breakfast and talking with her mother Marla and her grandmother Ruth. The kitchen smelled even more wonderful and his stomach rumbled loudly.

"What's for breakfast?" he asked smiling as he entered the room. "Whatever you're cooking smells really good."

"Hi," Kendra said smiling back at him.

"Good morning," Bracken replied, grinning at him.

"Good morning," Marla said pleasantly with a quick glance at him. She was in the middle of flipping a pancake.

"Good morning, Leander! Oh, give me those dirty things. I forgot to give you a hamper for your clothes," Ruth said also smiling, reaching out to him. "You are such a good boy," She complimented him as he handed the bundle to her.

"Thank you. You're welcome," he mumbled, unsure of the correct response to her comment.

She turned away and carried the dirty laundry to another room. Kendra smiled at him and gave him thumbs up. Bracken grinned, looked at the table and shook his head slightly.

Am I strange for a human too? He wondered.

"Just trying to be polite," he stage whispered at Bracken as he sat next to him.

"Good job!" he whispered back the good humor evident even in his whisper.

Leander relaxed thinking, not too strange then.

"I will leave a warded hamper in the bathroom for you to put your clothes in. We don't want the Brownies to get hold of your clothes and make something else out of them," Marla told him. "Blue jean lederhosen or something," she laughed.

Leander smiled. He had no idea what she had just described but guessed that she thought he should have – and that it was sort of funny. Kendra rolled her eyes, not too funny though.

"How did you sleep?" Kendra asked him.

"Very well. I think I was asleep when my head hit the pillow," he admitted. He didn't remember saying good night, any one leaving the room or Seth getting ready for bed.

"I think you are right," Bracken agreed. "We tried to talk to you and all we got were snores in return."

He smiled and shook his head. He definitely didn't remember anyone trying to talk to him.

"I feel great this morning and I'm ready to get the search going. Should I wake Seth?" he asked.

"I'm up," Seth yawned from the top of the stairs. "Be down in a minute." Then he walked back down the hall and disappeared into the bathroom.

"I need a word with Seth. I'll be right back," Leander said and left the table. He had just thought of something he needed to say to Seth in the warded confines of their room.

Leander leaned against the wall just outside the bathroom waiting for Seth.

Seth walked out of the bathroom still yawning.

"What do you want?" Seth asked in his early morning grumpy voice.

"I need to ask you something upstairs, in private."

"Okay," he answered drowsily.

Seth trudged back up the stairs and walked into the room behind Leander and closed the door. Leander turned and looked at him with a very serious expression.

"I want to be just Leander the tracker, nothing more than that. I am _not_ the young dragon that talked to the dragon. OK? Don't let that Shadow Charmer know who I am," he said emphatically.

"Sure, Leander, no problem. I can block that from my thoughts," Seth reassured him, his eyes brightening at keeping the secret.

He quickly woke up when he realized that the search was on. Today they were going to find the dragon and Shadow Charmer.

"Okay, thanks," Leander sighed.

"Do you mind if we go with you? Will we hamper your abilities to track?" Kendra asked when breakfast was done. Her mother turned her head to see Leander's reaction to the question.

"You didn't disturb me yesterday so if you want to come that's okay with me. This is just a preliminary search for evidence so it will be a rather haphazard day. We may be climbing around or wading through swamps. You can come if that isn't a problem," he said looking at her mischievously.

Marla laughed as Kendra grimaced at the words climbing, wading and swamps.

"You can stay here and help me bake…." she offered her daughter, knowing that baking was one of Kendra's least favorite kitchen chores.

"No. Thanks. I will go. I might be helpful – somehow," she quickly replied. She would put up with a lot just to spend the day with Bracken.

Hugo stood at the porch stairs ready to leave. Kendra thought he looked excited to be going with them. It was hard to see a true expression on his pebbly face but the flowers that had bloomed on his shoulders were vibrating with what Kendra thought was excited anticipation.

"Hugo go with Seth?" Hugo's gravelly voice was deep but soft. He was uncertain if he was going, even though Seth had told him to meet them here in the morning. The fairies had given him a certain amount of free will and intelligence but it also left him with a small amount of anxiety at times.

"Yes Hugo if you want to go with me today," Seth said, still leaving it up to the golem. He reached high and patted the golem's arm as he passed him.

"He really looked like a pile of dirt and stone without the milk. That was so strange," Leander mused. He had drunk milk with breakfast and Hugo looked like Hugo.

Hugo vibrated enthusiastically, obviously he wanted to go.

"Don't go anywhere dangerous, Kendra. Let the guys handle that part," Marla told her daughter and then she looked at Seth with a narrow eyed 'don't do anything stupid' expression on her face.

"If you find evidence that you need to go into prohibited areas you will need to come back here and get Stan," Ruth told Leander.

"Yes, I will. Thank you," Leander said politely.

The five of them headed out to the edge of the garden toward the cabin.

"Where is everyone Hugo?" Seth asked.

Hugo put out his arm and turned in a slow circle.

"Okay too much at once, I understand. Where is my dad?" Seth corrected himself.

Hugo pointed east away from the cabin.

"Hugo is there anyone close to Warren's cabin?" Bracken asked what they really needed to know.

Hugo shook his head. Seth rolled his eyes.

"We may need all our strength later on so let's take it easy this morning. Hugo, will you take us to the cabin?" Kendra asked the golem, she didn't want to command him. He wouldn't mind or care if she had commanded him but he needed to practice making decisions.

Hugo willingly reached out toward her with his arms.

Seth climbed up his arm onto his shoulder using the protruding stones on his arms as footholds. Leander watched his climb with a foolish grin on his face then followed his lead. Kendra and Bracken each sat on one of his massive forearms. The previous evening Hugo had carried the four of them home in his arms.

"Hold on tight, Leander," Seth told him nestling between two large rocks jutting from Hugo's considerable shoulders. The jutting rocks were remnants of his war outfit. The fairies had added the sharp and spiky 'armor' just before the opening of the demon prison. Hugo and Seth had spent many hours pounding away the sharp edges so that he and Kendra could ride comfortably on Hugo's shoulders again. Leander squeezed between two similar rocks on his other shoulder.

"Go fast?" Hugo asked.

"Yes!" Seth said eagerly. He enjoyed the fast trip the day before.

"No, but not slow either," Kendra contradicted quickly.

Hugo obeyed Kendra. He suddenly took off at a fast trot toward the cabin. "Oof," she squeaked as she fell back against his chest. Bracken sat smiling unperturbed by the sudden movement but he was amused at their sibling rivalry.

Seth and Leander already had firm grips on the rocks so the jolt forward was only mildly entertaining. Seth made a face at Kendra she couldn't see and Leander had to laugh at his friend.

They arrived at the cabin a half hour later. Kendra watched as the garden's wild residents fled at their approach. A few gnomes peeked up from the thickest vegetation then shuffled back into the deep shadows as they arrived. Hugo stood next to the porch as they climbed down from their various perches.

Seth entered the quiet cabin first. The others followed, silently watching him move around the room. Seth stood in the center of the room and closed his eyes and listened for the voice of the shadow charmer.

"The entrance to the cave is probably under rubble now. It's under the cabin," Seth told them when he heard a description of where the cave was.

"Hugo can't come in here," Bracken said.

"He could dig a way to the entrance," Kendra suggested.

"Or push the cabin out of the way," Seth interjected. "It isn't that far from the corner of the cabin." He pointed to the floor two feet from the bed and about six feet from the corner of the cabin.

"If it's that close then digging is a good option," Kendra reiterated. "Warren will want his cabin on its foundations when he comes to visit, Seth," she said sarcastically.

Kendra walked deliberately out of the cabin and around to the side closest to the spot Seth had identified. Leander and Bracken followed her.

"Hugo," she called. Hugo hurried around the house. "Can you dig here?" she asked.

He began to dig where she pointed but soon hit solid rock. She moved around the corner to the other side of the house and pointed.

"Here?" she asked him.

He moved to the spot and dug for a few moments and again hit solid rock.

He shook his head. "No dig… big rock." He held out his arms showing that the rock was huge.

Seth came around the side of the house smirking. He put his shoulder against the corner of the house and said, "Hugo, push the cabin like this until I say stop."

"Seth. No!" Kendra yelled as Seth moved away from the cabin.

"Go Hugo," Seth said pointing to the corner of the cabin glaring at Kendra.

Hugo looked at Kendra then looked at Seth and shrugged. He took Seth's spot bent over and put his shoulder low and pushed the cabin. The foundation stones at the corner and along the perpendicular wall toppled and the cabin leaned. Hugo readjusted his shoulder and pushed again. The cabin continued to move, sliding on the fallen stones. The cabin was rotating on the other foundation stones until they finally reached their limits and the whole cabin fell two feet to the ground.

"Oh no!"

Kendra gritted her teeth when she heard the furniture fall over and the sound of dishes falling from the cabinets. She was glad there was no waterline to burst or electrical wires that could pull loose.

She watched appalled, wondering how they would explain this reckless destruction. She looked first at Leander; he was intently watching the newly exposed ground under the cabin. Then she looked at Bracken. He looked somewhat astounded watching Seth urge Hugo as he shoved the cabin further off its foundations. Neither he nor Leander had said anything to stop the golem. Half of the garden was now under the cabin.

"Look!" Leander suddenly pointed. Everyone looked at the pile of rocks the movement had revealed underneath the cabin.

"Hugo, stop!" Seth yelled.

Hugo stopped, stood up and backed away from the cabin. Seth hurried forward to the pile of rocks. Judging from the fallen foundation stones the center of the pile was approximately where he had been standing inside the cabin earlier.

"Dig here! Hugo, dig here," Seth called excitedly as he and Leander started pulling small rocks out of the ground.

Hugo picked Seth up and moved him out of the way next to Kendra. Leander backed away from the golem as he began digging. The dirt and rocks began to fly.

Kendra and the others ran to the lee of the house. Squinting while they watched as Hugo became a whirlwind of activity. Dirt and debris in the air made their eyes water.

Soon he was no longer in sight. He dug deeper into the ground and the rubble continued to fly. His activity slowed as a few large stones and flew out of the hole. Then Hugo hefted a boulder over the edge. The dirt in the air finally settled.

"Seth! Come now," Hugo yelled from the hole in the ground a few moments later.

The group walked over to the edge of the gaping hole. Rocks of all sizes and dirt spotted the yard up to fifty feet away from the hole. Hugo looked up at them, his head almost ten feet from the surface. He was standing at the entrance of a cave twenty feet below them. Stones, dirt and a few boulders remained but he had cleared the entrance.

"Wow," Leander sighed.

"Good job, Hugo! Reach up here so I can climb down," he asked the golem.

Hugo stood on a boulder and raised his hand above his head. The stones jutting from his arm made him a perfect ladder to climb down into the hole. Seth sat on the edge and put his feet on Hugo's hand.

"I'm going to climb down and listen," Seth said to the group. "Hugo, help me," he said as he turned his attention to Hugo and his climb down into the hole.

"Be careful," Kendra said meaningfully. What he was doing looked dangerous. The dry dirt on the sides of the hole was slowly trickling back down. It didn't look like it would cave in but it definitely didn't look safe.

Hugo reached up with his other hand steadying Seth as he climbed down his arm. When Seth reached his shoulder Hugo grabbed him and lowered him to the ground.

"Whoa. Thanks Hugo," Seth said. He stood quietly for a moment.

"I hear her, they are deeper," he said excitedly peering into the dark hole in front of him. He pulled a flashlight from his backpack. Turning it on, the bright light illuminated the ceiling and walls of the cave opening. "Let's go. It doesn't look too bad. It is pretty open from what I see. Come look!"

Leander, Bracken and Kendra lay on the ground at edge of the hole looking down at Seth and Hugo.

"Hugo, help us down to Seth," Bracken asked the big golem. They sat up. Hugo turned and climbed on some of the debris. He was then able to reach up and lift them down one at a time.

All movement stopped once they were on the floor of the cave entrance. Kendra could feel the cave breathe. Cool air flowed out over her feet as warmer air flowed in over her head. The air smelled musty like an old house, not like other caves she had been in where the predominant smell was of bat and bird droppings. She thought it was weird.

"Hugo, come with us until it gets to tight," Kendra said leaning against the leg of the golem. She was definitely creeped out. She was hoping that Hugo could follow them the entire time.

"Hugo go," he nodded.

"Let's see how big this cave is," Leander said looking around. Leander smelled a faint hint of sulfur an encouraging sign that the dragon was here.

"A big dragon crawled through here. It is should be fairly large," Seth added enthusiastically but was reluctant to enter the actual darkness even with his flashlight in his hand.

Bracken took the lead. He pointed his finger toward the dark cave mouth and a small glowing ball formed floating five feet in front of them. He took a step and the light remained the same distance from him. Bracken pulled something from his pocket, turned and handed it to Leander. Leander looked at the small stone lying in his hand then back at Bracken bewildered.

"In case you need some light," Bracken smiled.

Leander looked down at the stone again and noticed that it glowed slightly even in the light of the entrance.

"Thanks," he smiled back and slipped it into his pocket.

Bracken could see perfectly well without the ball of light. Kendra glowed with fairy magic so bright that in the dark he could see much better that either Leander or Seth. He felt bad for Leander. He could no longer see the fairy-glow that came from Kendra, which had to hurt. He knew Kendra didn't need any light at all to see. Although she didn't really see the 'light' she was never in the dark.

They started down the sloping cave entrance. Seth listening for clues that would lead them to the trapped dragon. He turned off his flashlight since Bracken's ball of light was sufficient. For a long way they walked downhill taking each turn as Seth suggested

"We are almost there. Turn right, just ahead," Seth said. He was stumbling along behind Leander with his eyes closed listening closely to the constant stream of humming that he had asked Unleea to provide.

"We can't turn right; there isn't any entrance. It's all wall," Bracken said.

"Is there a turn ahead at all? Maybe we have to go down and back?" Seth opened his eyes and looked.

"Where are they?" Leander asked the smell of sulfur was very strong now.

"Just behind this wall," Seth pointed. "Not far, maybe twenty yards." He walked forward around Leander. "Wait a minute! What do you mean there isn't any turn. What is this?" He asked striding forward looking at a wide opening in front of Bracken.

"A wall," Bracken said patting the solid wall in front of him. Leander nodded his head.

Seth saw Bracken's hand just stop in the air as if he was miming a wall.

"Argh, No! There is _no_ wall here. Kendra can you see the opening here?" Seth didn't want to walk into it in case what he was seeing was an illusion and there really was a wall.

Kendra walked away from Hugo to stand next to her brother.

"I see a wall," she whispered in his ear.

Seth groaned. "There is no wall," he insisted.

"This could be a trap," Bracken said trying to see through the false wall. He could usually see through illusions if he focused, this one was stubborn.

"Unleea, who came with you?" Seth called. "Did you have a minion with you, someone talented in spells?" he asked then he listened.

"She says no. So someone else is responsible for this," Seth said.

"Unless she is lying," Bracken offered. "Okay Shadowmaster, time to use that power of yours. Call out the entity that is here hiding the room."

Seth thought for a moment, who or what would be deep in a cave and want to hide and keep anyone from finding his hiding spot. Paranoid enough to keep anyone that did find it trapped so they could not tell.

Kendra heard Seth spew a stream of foul sounding noises and she heard a similar stream coming from inside the cave. The two way conversation went on for a few minutes then they all gasped.

The barrier disappeared and the translucent walls of a magnificent flowstone cavern glowed in the light of Bracken's magic orb as it moved into the once hidden space. Brightly colored stalagmites and stalactites reached for each other as water dripped and splashed. These were impossible features for the type of cave they standing in now.

"I see it now!" Leander said in awe.

"Me too. How? Is it another illusion?" Bracken asked confused.

"No it's a hermit troll's work," Seth said.

"Like Bubda?" Kendra asked.

Seth nodded. "He has been working on this a long time. I threatened to command him to live in the sunshine for the rest of his existence. He didn't think I could so I gave him a command he didn't like and he couldn't disobey so he turned off his spells voluntarily. He tried to use a spell on me but it backfired," Seth laughed.

Seth walked boldly into the passage and they followed him, gawking at the beauty of the cave.

"Hugo, you wait here at the entrance please. Tell us if anyone comes near," Kendra told him.

Hugo nodded and stood in the opening. When he stood still he looked like part of the cave they had just left, if you ignored the flowers, of course.

They passed a rapidly growing pile of slime ejected from a hole in a stalagmite. Seth laughed as they passed it. Kendra assumed that it was the disguised hermit troll and the slime was the troll's misfired spell.

"They are over here," Seth announced as he led the way around a huge hanging curtain wall of flowstone.

Leander smelled sulfur and dragon breath. He knew Seth was right. He eagerly rounded the wall but there was nothing to see.


	22. Under the Shadow

Under the Shadow

Based on characters from Fablehaven© by Brandon Mull. The original characters and plot details are my property. No copyright infringement intended.

Seth stopped in the center of a large cave room. Leander skidded to a stop just before bumping into him. Bracken and Kendra followed at a more leisurely pace and now stood hand in hand looking at the empty but pretty cave. Bracken raised his free hand and the ball of light slowly rose to within a foot of the ceiling, illuminating the entire area.

"There," Seth pointed. Of course, no one could see them but him.

Leander followed the line of his arm staring at an open space in the cave. The stalagmites were broken, some of them crushed but there was no sign of a dragon other than the strong smell of sulfur.

"What can we do to release you? I have disarmed the spell that kept you trapped in this room," Seth said out loud. He stood still listening for a moment. "Bracken, I think you will need to heal the dragon. The poison didn't kill her but it has left her unable to move."

"I can't see her, Seth. You will have to help me out."

"Unleea can you release the shade sharing?" Seth asked and listened silently for a moment.

"She says she needs bright light to break away. The dragon is unresponsive and incapable of releasing any magic light anyway." Seth looked specifically at Bracken.

Bracken looked at Seth, irritated he pursed his lips, and started thinking. He couldn't heal the dragon if he couldn't see her and the dragon couldn't release the shadow charmer without being healed enough to release magic light. Grasping at a small straw he lowered the small glowing light orb until it was in front of Seth.

Seth cautiously pushed it forward until it stopped in mid air. Seth waited then shook his head. "Not enough," he mumbled.

Bracken channeled more light to the orb but other than the room getting brighter nothing happened. The orb traveled back to the ceiling and dimmed slightly.

He had a memory flash of Kendra wrapped in shadow reaching out and touching him, instantly their combined fairy light had increased. They had rocked off balance as Seth, released from his shadow, reappeared on the ground beneath them.

Kendra's magic and his light may solve the problem here too but he did not want to betray any of their secrets in case it didn't work. He looked at Leander and Kendra thinking.

"Hold hands, maybe we can combine our talents and give her enough 'light' to separate," Bracken said vaguely, trying to protect Kendra's fairykind status from an unknown entity. Even with Seth's Shadowmaster status, this was dangerous for Kendra.

Bracken still holding Kendra's hand, he reached out for Leander. Leander took Bracken's hand and reached for Seth's hand. Kendra held Bracken's hand with both of hers. Finally, Seth reached out and laid his hand on an unseen figure.

Almost instantaneously, the huge form an ice blue dragon appeared at the end of Seth's arm. Leander dropped his grip on both Seth's and Bracken's hands and stood gaping at the huge spiky dragon that had appeared. Kendra prepared to feel dragonfear and was confused when it didn't hit her.

"Well done," a young female voice said. This time they all heard and their heads turned toward the voice.

"Stop where you are," Seth yelled as he turned looking toward the exit from the room. "Show yourself. NOW," he commanded.

Close to the cave wall a small ragged figure appeared curled into a ball on the floor.

"Don't kill me Shadowmaster. I couldn't kill the dragon, I know I failed. But I kept her away. I kept her bound. Let me go. I don't want to see you kill the dragon. Please, I couldn't bear it," she begged in a small voice and groveled keeping her face to the floor.

"What makes you think _I_ want to kill the dragon?" Seth asked her.

"That's what the other Shadowmaster wanted," she said to the ground.

"Who was this Shadowmaster? Do you have a name?" Seth asked.

"Kelmar," she muttered her face still in the dirt.

Leander gasped. "Are you sure it was Kelmar?"

Bracken grabbed Leander's arm and shook his head.

Kendra was not paying attention to the interrogation of the little shadow charmer; she was too interested in the dragon. Without the paralyzing effect of dragonfear to deter her examination, the dragon's appearance fascinated her.

The huge dragon lay curled up compactly, her wings pulled tight against her sides, the vicious looking ice blue spikes along her spine barely moved with her slowed breathing. Kendra was unable to see the dragons' tightly tucked head or tail from where she was standing.

The mineral rich water continually dripped on her leaving some of its minerals behind so a thin crust of stony minerals covered her scales in places, the very beginnings of stalagmites forming on her almost still body. Where the water hadn't reached a layer of dust and dirt covered her scales and spikes. Still something about her color, her spikes or her overall appearance told Kendra that she should know this dragon.

The dragon was breathing very shallowly but it came in painful wheezes. Suddenly Kendra made the connection.

"Bracken," she murmured and tugged on his hand then whispered in his ear, "Heal the dragon. I think this is Raxtus' mother." She pointed at a particularly unique but familiar spike on her back.

Bracken turned to look at Kendra questioningly and then took an appraising look at the dragon. He realized that she could be right.

He moved around the large but tightly curled dragon until he found her head. He pulled his sword from its sheath across his back. The sword shimmered and he held his second horn. He laid it across her forehead and unexpectedly writhed with pain as he empathically felt hers. What affected her was a combination of poison and dreadful magic, she was indeed fortunate she had survived. He raised the horn from her head and it felt like a huge weight in his hand but he knew he had neutralized the magic and poison in her system.

Kendra watched as she seemed to breathe easier now. She was totally focused on the dragon and barely noticed Bracken moving slowly, stumbling he disappeared behind her huge form.

Laying his hand on the dragon's body to keep him from falling, he looked up and could not see over the dragon. "Kendra, I need your help," he called, his voice weak.

She looked up and could not see him. She rushed around the dragon. Bracken was leaning again the dragon, his face was ashen and his eyes were bloodshot. She came up behind him and wrapped her arms around him in a hug and felt the warm flow of magic rush into him.

He took a deep breath, his healthy color returned. He turned in her arms and smiled at her. "Thanks," he sighed feeling her rejuvenating power restore him. He kissed her forehead and turned back to the dragon.

She kept her hands on his back to support his healing of the dragon.

He pressed the tip of the horn against the dragon's body just at her heart. It almost appeared to pierce the scale. He knew that it couldn't, the scales around the heart were densest scales on a dragon. He poured as much healing into her as he could with Kendra's assistance. He sighed happily relieved when the dragon took a deep breath and stirred.

Unleea finally looked up from her nose in the dirt position when she heard the dragon draw her breath and saw the deadly looking spiral horn pointed at the dragon's heart.

"No!" she screamed and rushed at Bracken. Seth flew at her and tackled her to the floor. Leander helped Seth subdue the small female. She wiggled and writhed under their attempt to hold her down. He felt her try to set a shadow on Bracken's mind and blocked it. Her teeth snapped close to his hand as she tried to bite him, trying anything she could do to escape.

"We are not hurting her, little one, we are healing her," Seth said sternly, looking at the young girl intently.

She stopped struggling and turned her head to look at him. "Why?"

"We like dragons," Leander answered.

"To eat?" she asked still unable to understand what was going on.

Seth and Leander both laughed. "No!" they said in unison.

"She had been lost and many who love her have been looking for her." Seth lied, he didn't know who she was but he was sure someone was looking for her. If Navarog wanted her dead, she must be a really good dragon. "Besides she helped a friend of ours and he wanted us to find her, he knew she was in trouble."

The dragon was moving around more now. The dust, dirt and mineral crust of centuries of dripping water sloughed off her back.

Kendra helped Bracken move away from the dragon. Healing the dragon had drained him but she was replenishing him as rapidly as he could draw it in. Bracken and Kendra moved further away from her, while trying to get closer to Seth and Leander. They didn't want to be isolated from them when she was fully awake.

She was a very big dragon, not quite as big as Celebrant but close, like Bracken's description. The depth of color of each scale mesmerized Kendra. They reminded her of Raxtus' underbelly scales. She also had a peculiarly shaped spike on her back that Kendra knew Raxtus had. She was now positive that this was his mother.

She looked at Leander and wondered how he was going to feel knowing that he had both a father and a mother now. Navarog had tried to kill her but failed. Kendra was happy that Raxtus had eaten Navarog; it was ironic but also poetic.

"Unleea, where are you?" the dragon called drowsily.

"Over here behind you. Are you well?" Unleea answered from beneath the watchful eyes of Seth and Leander.

"I am getting better fast. Who did this? Who healed me?" the dragon asked raising her large head, her big eyes blinking in the light of Bracken's magic glowing ball.

"I did," Bracken stated.

Suddenly Kendra felt paralyzing dragonfear hit her. She could still move a bit and looked around at everyone to see the affect of dragonfear. Bracken seemed somewhat more immune than her but not totally. Leander was rigid next to Seth, his eyes wide with fear.

"We mean you no harm," Seth stated, the fear had no affect on him. "We came at the request of the young dragon who you spoke to in his dreams."

"They freed us from the troll's spell and have not harmed me or you. The new Shadowmaster seems to be quite a different sort than the last one," Unleea pleaded with the dragon.

"Who spoke, I think I recognized the voice. Who said 'I did'?" The dragon's female voice was multi-faceted and very melodic.

"I…did. I am…Bracken, the… hornless unicorn," he said struggling with the words.

"The Fairy Queen's son? You came to heal me?" she said astonished. She immediately dampened her dragonfear. "Thank you, Prince Bracken, I feel much better now."

Unleea gasped and looked at him with adoring eyes.

Kendra felt she could move and breathe again. She looked over at Leander and saw he had the same reaction. He was taking a deep breath just the same time she did. It didn't make sense to her… a dragon affected by dragonfear? Then she decided he must be faking to appear human.

"When we heard you were trapped I happened to be available so we came to find you," Bracken told her. "May we know your name?" he asked.

"Not yet, not until I know more about what is going on," the dragon said suspiciously. She had no idea who or what the other human-like creatures were.

"Navarog is dead," Unleea said eager to give her good news.

"How?" she asked looking at the smiling humans surrounding her. She was beginning to believe they had rescued her after all.

"Navarog was killed while he was in his human form. He was planning an attack on Wyrmroost and Celebrant. He was bragging about it," Kendra answered. "The dragon heard the plan, snuck up on him and ate him."

The dragon growled and roared loudly. Kendra threw her hands over her ears.

"That dragon is a hero if he killed such as Navarog. I will honor him when I see him. What is his name?" she said in her normal though musical voice.

"I don't know," Kendra said warily looking at Leander, who was looking at her and slightly shaking his head.

Leander smirked inwardly thinking, you wouldn't honor him not if you saw him. You would ridicule him like the others, but no one will see him again anytime soon.

"Do you know why Navarog was trying to kill you?" Bracken asked the dragon.

"No."

"Unleea do you know why Kelmar was trying to kill her?" Seth asked the shadow charmer.

"Yes," Both the dragon and the shadow charmer answered.

"Why?" Four human voices asked in unison.

"I was hated by my rivals, the other female dragons who wanted my mate. Kelmar sent Unleea to either kill me or die trying. She is a sweet thing for a shadow charmer but Kelmar didn't know that. She warned me and we were trying to figure out what to do when Navarog showed up and cut me with a poisoned blade. We were able to hide long enough for Unleea to shade me. We ran here and hid in this cavern," the dragon said.

"I knew that the hermit troll had a special space here, I heard him mumbling. What I didn't know was that he had the means to trap us if we came inside," Unleea explained.

"I wanted to go into a hibernation-like sleep before the poison incapacitated me but I was so weakened by the poison that I quickly cessated to keep from dying," the dragon clarified.

"Once she went to sleep I couldn't get released from the shade-share. I became part of her and shared her life force and was able to continue."

"What year is it?" the dragon asked aware of their strange clothing and wrist adornments, especially on the young woman.

"Two thousand ten," Seth replied.

"What? No! This cannot be," the dragon cried. "My offspring will be grown."

"We can help you find your offspring, what are their names?" Bracken asked.

"They weren't hatched when I was attacked. I don't know their names. Poor Celebrant had to raise his offspring on his own," she lamented, her head swaying sorrowfully on the end of her long neck.

Kendra was right, Bracken thought, it is Raxtus' mother.

Leander looked at her and realized what she had just disclosed; she was his mother. The dragon that everyone thought was dead was actually alive. Still he didn't want her to know who he was. Having one parent embarrassed by your appearance was enough for him. He was glad that his father would see his favorite mate again but Leander couldn't see a way for them ever to be a family. Besides, he was happier as a human, happier than he'd even been, except perhaps when he was flying. But he hadn't experience a fraction of what it meant to be human; he was sure that there would be something he could find that would rival the feeling of flying.

"So you are Axezeles," Leander stated to keep his friends from guessing whether he knew or not.

"Yes," she said proudly but surprised. "I am. How do you know of me?"

"I am Leander, a tracker. I have been looking for Celebrant's and Axezeles' only son. He has been missing for over a month," he told her. "I came upon a young dragon and his request to find you. Because of the two shadow charmers the trail to you was easier to follow."

"Only son? But there were four eggs surely there was more than one male," she said confused and deeply disappointed with the number of male offspring.

"Bracken, will you tell her? You know the story better than I do," Leander asked feeling sad, troubled by her words.

Bracken nodded, knowing that it had to be hard on him just looking at her especially when she didn't appear to be concerned her son was missing. She seemed more troubled about the others.

Leander pulled the lighted stone from his pocket and walked away toward the dark cavern entrance, toward Hugo. He was disappointed that she didn't seem concerned that her 'only' son was missing. It has to be a dragon thing he thought. They aren't as connected to their children as humans are. The eggs hatch unsupervised. If you survived to hatch, you grew up. If you survived growing up, then you showed up years later to make your parents proud… or not.

He had survived but definitely didn't make his father proud. Celebrant was distressed at the terrible loss of his mate and was not proud of a son who was a freak and an unbearable disappointment. That was why his half brothers were in charge of the other two dragon sanctuaries. He spent most of his time invisible so other dragons couldn't torment him, which they would do if they caught sight of him.

He walked past the huge pile of rotting slime and sat curled up with his head on his knees next to Hugo at the entrance of the troll cave. He sat the lighted stone on the toe of his shoe. His left arm wrapped around his legs his hand gripped his right elbow. He pushed the bright stone around on the toe of his shoe with his free right hand.

He tried hard not to listen to Bracken retell the story he had only heard himself two days earlier but it was impossible to ignore it. He explained the situation surrounding her and her eggs. But as Bracken skimmed over the consequences of the use of fairy magic to save and hatch her only offspring. Leander couldn't help but groan as Bracken told her that other dragons had never accepted Raxtus. A major understatement if there ever was one, he lamented. A strange noise rumbled in the cave reducing his ability to hear Bracken. He was shocked when he realized the strange sound echoing through the cave was the dragon weeping.

He heard a different noise, closer to him and looked up. Kendra came around the corner, tears clouding her eyes. She shuffled to his side and sat down next to him. She wrapped her arms around his neck and cried softly into his shoulder.

When he had first met her, years ago, she was crying but he had been a dragon then and he hadn't known what to do. Although as a dragon there were limited things, he could have done.

"Don't cry," he said just like the first time, but now he could do something. He wrapped his arms around her and hugged her. He rocked her; it just seemed a natural thing to do and it comforted him too. It was difficult knowing that it was _his_ mother in there weeping for his siblings and even possibly for him.

"I know its old news to us but she just learned that she's lost three children and her only son is missing," she sobbed into his shoulder. "That has to be hard enough but she now knows someone wanted her _and_ her children dead for very serious reasons."

"We will figure it out. She will be safe," Leander said confidently as a lump formed in his throat reducing his ability to speak. All of this emotion was new to him. He felt tears fill his eyes and when he blinked, the warm tears fell onto his face. He gulped trying to swallow the lump and sniffed as the tears also made his nose run.

Kendra looked up at him and smiled sadly through her tears.

"Look. I've got you crying too. Sorry," she said as she reached up to wipe the tears from his face.

"Every day is something new!" He shrugged and grinned back enjoying the feel of her warm fingers on his face, her warm body next to him. Was he enjoying the feelings too much? Kendra was only a friend.

He was embarrassed at the thoughts going through his mind. He was crying over his mother, the death of his siblings _and_ still enjoying Kendra's warm hug and tender touch.

What was wrong with him?

What was with all of the conflicting emotions? Was this what it was like to be human all the time? Maybe it will get easier, he thought hopefully.


	23. The 800 Year Old Teenager

The 800 Year Old Teenager

Based on characters from Fablehaven© by Brandon Mull. The original characters and plot details are my property. No copyright infringement intended.

Footfalls from behind the curtain wall made him drop his arms back to his sides. He looked up and saw Seth coming around the edge of the wall. Seth motioned for them to come with him.

Leander picked up his light stone, got up and helped Kendra from the cave floor. They followed Seth back to the larger space.

The scene had changed. Axezeles had been a large spiky lump in the middle of the floor, now she was standing in the center of the room looking magnificent and very large. Standing with her neck extended and tail stretching out behind her she filled the room.

"Prince Bracken, will you help me find those responsible for the attempt on my life and deaths of my children?" she asked him regally.

"I will help in any way I can," he returned the formal tone. "Axezeles, just call me Bracken. I am not known as Prince Bracken and it may be dangerous to all of us if you were to use that name at the wrong time," Bracken said nicely.

She nodded thoughtfully and looked at Leander.

"Tracker Leander, you will continue the search for my missing son?" she asked him equally as formally.

Seth, Bracken and Kendra all stared at him wondering what he was going to say.

"Yes, I will continue the search for him," he replied politely and without hesitation.

"No one knows what my avatar looks like since I only invoked it once. I think I will be safer if no one knows Axezeles is alive," she said resolutely.

Leander knew just what she meant by that, Kelmar was dead but he was probably someone's puppet. Navarog didn't take orders very well but he probably wasn't the originator of the murder attempt either. Leander definitely felt safer in human form. No one knew if Raxtus was alive or not and that suited him just fine based on what he had just learned.

"You will need another name for your avatar," Bracken suggested.

"Please, wait until you are changed to choose a name. It may help us to aid you in choosing a name, if we see you in your human form," Kendra requested trying to be helpful.

"I don't know your name," Axezeles said looking at Kendra with wide searching eyes.

"I am Kendra and this is my brother Seth. We are just human though very involved with the sanctuaries," Kendra said humbly, averting her eyes from the intense stare.

"I will join the search for the killers of my children but I need to learn the ways of the world in 2010. Kendra, will you teach me?" she asked politely.

"I will do what I can. The world is very complicated compared to a couple of hundred years ago. I can get my mother and grandmother to help also. They don't need to know who you are if you wish. We can tell them that we found you trapped in this place. Leander's search didn't provide clues to Raxtus but we found you," she said in reply. "Maybe we won't get grounded for life for dumping the cabin on the ground," she mumbled looking pointedly at Seth.

Seth made a face at her.

"When you invoke your avatar you may want to wear something similar to what I'm wearing," Kendra also suggested.

Axezeles looked at her appearance appraisingly. She was obviously not as judgmental as a human who might have worn corsets and long dresses all their life.

"What about me?" the little shadow charmer asked, she was still sitting on the floor watching the interaction. She was scruffy, barefooted and wearing thin rags.

"How old are you child?" Axezeles asked her.

"They told me I was 10 summers when the older shadow charmers recruited me and that I was old enough to correctly do what they asked," she sniffed. "They thought they could control me but they didn't know me."

Seth was amazed she was so young although he had gained part of his skill early too.

"How did you learn all your shadow skills?" he asked curiously.

"Both my parents were shadow charmers and I learned from them. They were cruel and evil people and I swore I wouldn't be like them. They had disappointed Kelmar a few too many times. He had me kill them thinking that it would make me more useable but it only liberated me to be less so. I regret killing my parents but not the evil people that they were," she said matter-of-factly.

Seth stood there mouth agape.

"When was this? What was the year?" Bracken asked.

"I didn't know there was a name for the year," she shrugged. "No one said and no one cared. It was hard just to survive, season to season."

Seth thought she certainly didn't act like a ten year old. It suddenly struck him that she wasn't anymore. She had just spent several hundred years living on the dreams of a highly intelligent mature dragon.

"The year I laid my eggs was around the year that Constantinople fell and John was King of England. The human wars drove me to this peaceful place. The eggs were in the cave for many years before the attempt on my life," Axezeles said.

"King John? He reigned in the early 1200's. Constantinople fell during the 4th crusade about the same time." Bracken accessed a rough date from his memory.

"How did you get here?" Kendra asked Unleea. "This continent hadn't been discovered by Europeans yet."

"One of the jealous female dragons flew me here. Kelmar didn't know where Axezeles had gone but a few of the dragons knew. Kelmar had no idea that I was flying over the ocean. I never returned to tell him either," she answered candidly.

"The world is very _much_ _more_ complicated than eight hundred years ago," Leander said staggered at the thought they had slept through that much time. The thought that Raxtus was about 800 years old also boggled his human mind. He had no idea he was that old, he hadn't thought about his age at all. This would take some adjustment.

"You could possibly pose as mother and daughter, if you want, and come home with me," Kendra offered.

Leander didn't know if it was a good idea to be in the same house with her. This also would take some adjustment. How much adjustment was he expected to make every day? Then he realized that he would be gone most of the day anyway. He would only see her in the morning and evening. In a week or sooner she would be leaving with Bracken to find the persons responsible for the death of his siblings. Then things would get back to normal, whatever that was.

"Before you invoke your avatar I have a question. We may need to prove that we found the body of Axezeles so we can find the instigator of Navarog's attack. We may need some sign of the dead dragon. What do you suggest we use to prove Axezeles is dead?" Bracken asked.

"I have a unique spike and scale pattern that would prove my body was found," she said thoughtfully.

"Won't that hurt?" Leander asked innocently knowing that it would indeed be extremely painful.

"Not the scale. But the removal of the spike will be painful but Prin…but Bracken can heal the wound," she answered. "I would give up my right claw if it would guarantee I will find my children's killer."

"I don't think that will be necessary. The scale and spike will be sufficient," Bracken said placating the dragon.

With a grunt and a great tug, she pulled a scale from her chest above her heart, the same one that Bracken had indented with his horn. There was a small amount of blood on the scale.

"This scale is special. It will take me many years to grow it back. Any dragon or foul dragon-slayer will know that a dragon cannot survive without this protection."

She held it out to Leander, stunned at first but he recovered quickly, took it from her huge clawed foot.

Then she looked at Bracken. "Heal me quick Bracken, the pain will be great," she told him and watched him prepare.

He pulled his short sword again and it became a horn. He pulled his other sword and it remained a sword.

"You pull and I will cut. It will go faster and be less painful," he told her. He stood close to her but also ready to jump away in case she lashed out.

She reached up and grabbed the unique spike and pulled. Bracken sliced the base of the spike. The dragon roared in pain and Bracken placed his horn on her shoulder to aid in relieving her agony. Kendra ran to him and added her magic to his. With another slice and a mighty tug, the spike came loose. She dropped the bloody spike and panted in agony but didn't collapse. Her blood clotted quickly as Bracken, with Kendra's aid, continued to funnel healing to the dragon.

Kendra knew Raxtus also had a similar though miniature version of the spike and it made her sad that she may never see his again.

Seth and Leander walked over and looked at the bloody spike lying on the floor.

"What are we going to do with this? The blood is fresh." Seth said as he tapped the spike with his foot. "No one will believe it came from a long dead dragon."

"We freeze age it," Unleea said. She had not moved and was still sitting on the cave floor where Seth had stopped her from attacking Bracken.

"What?"

"Freeze it and flake the blood off," she eagerly volunteered. "We used to make 'ancient' artifacts to sell by freeze aging new stuff. I was the quickest at it so they made me do it."

"Freeze it with what?" Seth asked.

"I know something you don't Shadowmaster?" she said in true awe. "May I teach you?"

"Yes, I would like it very much; it must be something lost over the years. You know how they are so secretive with their skills," Seth improvised, glad the little shadow charmer was on his side now.

Or was she? He needed Bracken to listen to her before he trusted her too much further. She had tried to runaway and she thought he would kill her. She could just be biding her time.

"Yes. I do know how secretive they are. I had to learn much of what I do know by shade jumping. Ha! They didn't know I knew how to do that," she laughed then shivered, thinking back on her training and their devious ways.

Seth saw her shiver as she stared into space obviously thinking of her past. It must have been tough on the little girl.

Axezeles sighed again. Bracken and Kendra backed away from the huge dragon.

"Thank you both for your aid," she said looking at the two. "You are more than _just_ human Kendra, with the Prince of Fairydom as a suitor and a Shadowmaster for a brother. You are fairystruck at the very least."

Kendra blushed.

Seth looked up. Bracken was listening to the dragon talk to Kendra. He knew it might be rude but he needed to know if he could trust the girl.

"Bracken, will you check out Unleea? See if she has suffered any damage from her years attached to the dragon," Seth called out.

"She looks fine," Bracken said trying to dismiss him.

"Just take her hands and check her out. She could have hidden damage," Seth said suggestively. Knowing Bracken could tell in a moment if she was an enemy.

"Oh okay," Bracken caught Seth's hint. "Unleea let me see how you are."

"I've never seen a unicorn horn before. I've never seen a unicorn either but I've always been on the other side." Unleea looked up at Bracken with wonder in her eyes as he approached her.

"This won't hurt but be still and let him hold your hands." Seth told her quietly and calmly.

She stood still with her hands outstretched watching him with fascination.

Bracken took her hands and smiled at her.

"Why do you care for the dragon?" he asked her.

"She is not filled with hate like the others are," she answered truthfully.

"How did you know this before they took you to kill her?"

"My father took me to see the dragons once when I was younger. He wanted to see if I was going to be a shadow charmer, to see if dragons frightened me. She was there with a big silver dragon. I was not afraid of them. I passed their test. I could tell that those two held nothing against us humans unlike the other dragons who loathed us. She was so beautiful," Unleea said smiling up at Bracken.

Axezeles was listening to them now.

"Yes, I remember. I had just returned from hiding my eggs and it brought me pleasure to see a little one, even a human, knowing that ours were growing too," Axezeles said.

"She is just fine," Bracken said releasing her hands, looking over at Seth. "She is in good health. She could use something to eat though."

Seth started rummaging through his pack and pulled out an apple. Unleea looked at the fruit suspiciously.

"Bite it but only suck out the juice. It's sweet and good for you. It will give you energy." Seth told her. "I don't know what you ate before so offering you anything else may upset your stomach."

She sank her teeth into the fruit hesitantly but immediately began to suck out the sweet juice. When the juice stopped flowing, she bit it again.

"We will need to bring this to the attention of the caretakers but we won't spring all of this on them at once. You two are our priority at the moment. We will get you out of here and back into the world," Bracken said.

"Unleea and Seth will have to work on these to create the artifacts we need for our investigation. We will 'find" these artifacts later during Leander's continued search for Raxtus. That is his priority."


	24. Finding the Lost

Finding the Lost

Based on characters from Fablehaven© by Brandon Mull. The original characters and plot details are my property. No copyright infringement intended.

Axezeles flashed silver blue light and a small graceful woman stood before them. She wore a tattered dark skirt and a simple dirty off-white shirt. The wounds on her chest and back were visibly red through the thin shirt. Her appearance shocked them all: she was a young woman with long blue black hair and Asian features. They had assumed that she would look similar to Leander or at least like a human from northern Europe.

"Oh my," Kendra said. "You are beautiful."

"Well mother and daughter won't work," Seth said bluntly.

"No, it won't," Unleea agreed.

"I chose to wear something that is in keeping with Unleea's clothing. We could be from any time so our alibis have flexibility." She stated in perfect English with a British accent.

"I can see that I am small compared to more modern people. Maybe I need a big name. I chose the name Maeve it's the name of a tall warrior queen." Axezeles said with a positive nod.

"Maeve is a good name, even now. It will do well even if no one knows what it actually means." Bracken agreed.

"We need to set this up just right." Leander said. Now that he saw her in her human form he could imagine that she wasn't his mother but she was a victim needing protection. He thought about how to set it up for the Caretaker to take over their safety and care. He knew he needed to discuss this with Bracken, and started to say something to him but Bracken was already ahead of him.

"Kendra, you go with Hugo and bring a caretaker, Stan or Ruth, whoever you can find, back here. We will figure out the story and set up the scene. You need to be just as surprised as they are so you go ahead and leave now," Bracken said, knowing it would take her at least an hour if not more to get them organized and back to the cave.

"All you need to know is that Leander's search brought results, just not the ones that we thought. We found something and need their help," Seth added. "Remember mom told you not to go anywhere dangerous, from above this cave looks dangerous."

Kendra left reluctantly and Hugo followed her as she left the cave.

"Hugo, you know not to tell anyone about what you heard in the cave unless Bracken says it's alright? Right?" Kendra asked the golem.

"Hugo keep secrets," He said with more emotion than Kendra had ever heard him use.

"Thank you, Hugo," she smiled up at him.

Hugo made a gravely sound in his throat. He knew that Axezeles was alive and that it would be dangerous for her if someone found out.

Hugo lifted Kendra to the surface ledge and climbed out himself.

"I guess we should run if we have such important news," Kendra said as she climbed onto his arm again.

"Hugo go fast?" He asked curiously.

"Not at first but when we get close to home yes Hugo, very fast." She clung to the blunted stone spikes sticking out of his arm and he took off toward the house.

"Mom! Dad! Grandma! Grandpa! Anybody?" Kendra yelled from her perch on Hugo's arms as they entered the garden. Fairies flew in from all directions and swirled around her and Hugo. Hugo slowed to a fast walk.

"Kendra!" Fairies chirped at her.

"Did you find Raxtus?" Dozens of them asked in their windchime voices.

"Did you?" Another dozen asked.

"No sorry." She replied.

"Oh. No." Their disappointed voices rang as they passed the news that she hadn't found Raxtus. They went back to their pastimes uninterested in what she was yelling about if it didn't involve Raxtus.

"Mom? Grandma?" She yelled again, she didn't really expect the men to be home right now. They were usually out doing their various chores around the sanctuary.

Hugo was now at the porch, he lowered his arm and Kendra jumped down as her mother and grandmother came running out the door.

"What is it Kendra?" Ruth asked drying her hands on her apron. Marla ran up to her daughter and put her arm around her.

"They found something... They need help... It wasn't Raxtus though," she stuttered through the words unsure of what she should say. She knew if she told them that they had pushed the cabin over that would get some action.

"Seth had Hugo push Warren's cabin off its foundations to get to a hidden cavern that Leander led us to," she said cringing.

"What?" Ruth sputtered angrily.

"Kendra, what made him… never mind." Her mother shook her head. Kendra could feel the anger welling up in both women.

"But they found someone down there trapped, they need help," she said hurriedly was unsure but the anger was subsiding with the news so she thought she could add another log to the fire. "There is a troll down there too."

"OK, I'm getting Stan, Dale and your dad," Grandma Ruth stated as she walked back into the house, her anger gone.

"Wait for me Hugo. We will go back together," Kendra told him. Hugo nodded and stood still, waiting. Kendra entered the house with her mother.

"What did they find?" her mother asked as they followed Ruth to the kitchen where the two-way radio was.

"I don't know, they yelled for me to get help. I was waiting like you told me, to let them handle the hard stuff and I heard Seth speaking trollish," she said twisting the facts.

It took a while to reach all three men on the radio. Ruth told them they would meet them at Warren's cabin. Stan asked her to bring his rescue and climbing gear, so they had to locate it and rig it so Hugo could carry it to the site.

An hour later, Kendra and Hugo were back at Warren's cabin with Ruth and Marla. They were stunned at the condition of the cabin but even more impressed with the hole in the ground and the cave opening.

Ruth, Marla and Kendra went inside the cabin to see the damage and were surprised that it wasn't that bad. The floor tilted about a foot from one side to the other. The amount of broken glasses and dishware wasn't as bad as it had sounded to Kendra when it happened.

A few minutes later, they sat waiting for the men at the edge of the hole in the ground. Hugo had jumped in with the rescue gear to talk to Seth to see how things were going. Seth helped Hugo remove the rescue gear inside the cave. Hugo came back to say that no one was hurt but that they needed to wait for Stan before they all came down.

They heard metal jangling and the rumble of the cart as Mendingo brought Stan, Scott and Dale.

"Oh! I'm glad you told us about the cabin." Scott exclaimed angrily. "Seth…Argh!"

"If they found someone trapped then it is fine son," Stan said.

Hugo helped all of them down into the entrance of the cave and led them through the winding cave. They walked into the cave room. Bracken and Leander were standing opposite a short and rotund troll who was standing over two figures lying on the floor. Seth was sitting on the floor near the bodies speaking a foul sounding language and the troll was yelling back in the same guttural speech.

"I told him 'Stan Sorenson is the caretaker of the sanctuary; he can give you what you want'," Seth said to everyone. "Grandpa he says that we can have the women if you promise to close him up in this cave and promise that no one will ever disturb him again. He wants the promise from you. He wouldn't believe me or take Bracken's word. He says he has been here since before the treaty and it is his cave."

"What did he do to them? If he has harmed them there may be consequences for his actions." Stan stared at the woman and girl and saw that they were breathing.

Seth spoke to the troll for a few moments. The troll looked belligerent. Seth spoke two words and the troll looked afraid and began to speak

"They are asleep like hibernation. He just didn't want them telling anyone about the cave. He is the one who filled it in after they intruded."

"What did you say to him?" Kendra asked surprised at the troll's fearful reaction.

"I told him earlier I'd get Hugo to bring in the sun and ruin his home, he didn't believe me then but now he knows what Hugo can do. He feels the fresh air now too and doesn't like it." Seth answered.

"He has my word that we will leave him in peace; we will fill in the cave. If anyone comes again he must report it to me and I will take care of the intruder or he will be evicted." Stan said.

Seth told the troll what his grandfather said and the troll nodded his head.

"We have an understanding?" Stan asked.

"Yes," Seth said.

"Good," he said.

Seth spoke to the troll once more and the troll nodded. He spoke a few nasty sounding syllables and the two on the floor began to stir.

"You are now part of the Fablehaven treaty and will abide by the covenant. Nero is who you will tell if you have an intruder, he will come to me." Stan said.

Seth interpreted. When the troll found out he had to report to Nero he screamed and danced and pulled at his tusks. Then he ran around the curtain wall and wailed.

Marla and Ruth ran to the women lying on the ground. Bracken and Kendra joined them.

"He wasn't happy about that. I wonder why?" Scott asked.

"I think it's because Nero is the reason he hid in the cave in the first place," Seth laughed. "He owes Nero money. This has been a bad day for him all around."

Bracken healed them and they awoke confused at all of the people around them. Soft words of comfort and assurances of safety from Ruth and Marla helped ease them.

When Marla introduced Bracken to them, they knew his name. Stress levels decreased significantly, so the explanation of their circumstances wasn't as difficult as the caretakers had supposed. These women knew of the sanctuary system or at least about the inhabitants.

The two did not speak much. The Caretakers had to listen to their words translated through Bracken or Seth. The older woman was speaking an old dialect of English but the girl was speaking Gobblish. The little girl stared at Bracken when she wasn't staring at Seth.

After a few minutes, Bracken and Scott carefully carried them to the cave opening. Hugo lifted them one at a time to the surface in the rescue stretcher. Once on the surface, Bracken and Scott took them inside the cabin. Ruth and Marla fed them broth and gelatin to see how their bodies would take food after being in hibernation for so long.

When it was certain that they could handle the trip, they rode in the cart to the main house.


	25. The Search for Nothing

The Search for Nothing

Based on characters from Fablehaven© by Brandon Mull. The original characters and plot details are my property. No copyright infringement intended.

Leander was exhausted – again.

Seth was already in bed and Leander was sitting at the table, thinking. The whole day had been a trial and now his mother was here in the house. Dinner, at least, was unstressed. Maeve and Unleea had eaten in their room on the first floor.

_I am going to have to learn about control when it comes to food_, he thought. His stomach grumbled not because he was hungry but because he had eaten so much he ached. As a dragon, he stuffed himself but he only ate occasionally, now he ate three times a day. He couldn't continue to eat this way as a human but the food tasted so good and he felt starved every time he came to the table.

He wasn't ready to sleep even though he could barely keep his eyes open.

"Seth, what am I going to be doing now that I'm not really looking for anyone?" he asked.

"They still think you're looking for Raxtus so you need to appear to be doing that. Wander around the sanctuary and take in the sights. We will still have to find out why that happened to her. We have to keep searching so we can find the 'dead dragon' and bring back the evidence of her death."

"I knew that," he shook his head. He was tired and not thinking, obviously. "Thanks for reminding me. I'm just tired and bothered about the whole thing. I mean, I never thought I'd ever see her. Who would have thought after all this time she was alive? She is magnificent, isn't she?" he said proudly and sat thinking for a moment and slowly his sadness came back.

"But … I can't stand to be around her. If she knew what I was like as a dragon she would be just as horrified as my father was the first time he saw me. I don't want her or anyone else beside you guys to know who I am," he said sadly.

He was certain Raxtus didn't want to go through that humiliation. His battered dragon ego had had enough.

"If you are uncomfortable around her, just stay away from the house until it's time to go to sleep. We can hang out in the cabin until Bracken comes up with a plan to get in to see Celebrant with the evidence. It won't be long. You'll see.

"If you want something to do we can get Mendingo and Hugo to help us put the cabin back onto its foundations that would make Warren happy, not to mention my parents and grandparents.

"You need to hang around because your invisibility will come in handy at some point," Seth said yawning.

"Yes, we need to repair the cabin," he said sleepily. "But Raxtus can stay gone forever as far as I'm concerned. _If_ I have to show up as Raxtus then I am going to say the spell didn't work - OK? I don't want there to be an association between the two of us," Leander added, his weariness agitating him. He was beginning to think of the dragon as a whole different being, a damaged and miserable creature, someone he wanted to avoid. He thought of him as separate from himself, the normal person he was now.

"Go to sleep – you're tired and not making sense," Seth said snuggling down in his covers; it was cool in the attic that evening.

"Ok," Leander agreed easily yawning in response to Seth's yawn. He crawled under the covers of his bed. Seth turned out the light.

Leander dreamed again.

"_Don't cry," he said. He wrapped his arms around her; feeling the warmth of her body against his. They rocked together soothing each other. _

"_I know its old news to us but she just learned that she's lost three children and her only son is missing." Kendra sobbed into his shoulder. "That has to be hard enough but she now knows someone wanted her and her children dead."_

"_We will figure it out. She will be safe." Leander said confidently as a lump formed in his throat and tears welled in his eyes._

_Kendra looked up at him and smiled sadly through her tears._

"_Look. I've got you crying too. Sorry." she said as she reached up to wipe the tears from his face._

"_Every day is something new!" he shrugged and grinned back enjoying the feel of her warm fingers on his face, her warm body next to him. He was enjoying the feelings too much, Kendra was only a friend. _

_Her fingers caressed his face, followed the contour of his cheek and traced across his lips. The feeling was so exquisite Leander looked longingly at her. She moved her face closer to his. She was Kendra and yet she was _not_ somehow as her lips traced across his cheek and found his. The tender kiss stirred unfamiliar hormones…._

"Gahhh!" Leander cried out as he awoke in a sweat, trembling.

"Bad dream?" Seth asked from the dark.

"Not exactly," Leander muttered not knowing what had just happened. Waking up startled was one thing but this was quite another.

"How can dreams affect you so …uh…ah… so physically?" he stuttered, he was still shaky from the effects of the dream.

"Oh, one of those," Seth laughed. "Welcome to puberty. Go take a shower it will help," he said as he rolled over to go back to sleep.

"What? Does this happen often?" Leander asked worriedly.

"Not really but it is a normal male reaction to certain dreams. Don't freak out and whatever you do don't talk about it," Seth laughed again.

"This only happens when you sleep?" Leander asked for clarification.

"Um, well not exactly… uh… sometimes you have to… uh… watch your daydreams too," Seth admitted honestly.

"You're kidding me," he groaned.

"Don't young dragons have similar dreams?" he asked curiously.

"Not like this," Leander sighed, got out of bed and headed out the door. By the time he reached the bathroom the content of the dream had already faded and fairly quickly its effect on him also faded. After his shower, he felt much better but his stomach grumbled so he crept to the kitchen and made his own midnight raid on the refrigerator. He crawled back into the bed a half hour later. As he pulled the covers over him he felt content, warm and his stomach was full again. The dream forgotten he fell asleep immediately.

He woke in the morning and felt very hungry again. He dressed quickly and quietly leaving Seth sleeping undisturbed. He rushed down the stairs to see what was available for breakfast. The smells coming from the lower floor were mouthwatering.

"What's for breakfast?" he asked cheerfully as he walked into the kitchen. He stopped immediately inside the door at an unexpected sight.

Sitting at the large kitchen table was Maeve, Scott, Mrs. Larsen, Kendra, Unleea and Stan. Ruth and Marla were bustling around the kitchen making various breakfast dishes. Dale and Hank Larsen were not in the room.

"You're hungry Leander? I thought you ate enough last night to last you a week," Stan said laughing.

"Stan don't tease the boy you know how much it takes to fuel a growing body," Ruth fussed at her husband good naturedly. "Sit down, Leander. I think I have a pancake or two with your name on it in this bowl of batter," She smiled at him.

"Thanks Mrs. Sorenson," he smiled back at her, his stomach grumbled but quietly for a change.

Leander sat at the farthest seat from Maeve as he could on the same side of the table as a result he couldn't see her unless he tried. He quietly watched Ruth flip pancakes on the other side of the kitchen.

Stan and Scott were trying to figure how long the troll had them trapped. Leander noticed that Maeve gave them very ambiguous information making their job very difficult. Her 'faked' poor language skills were rapidly catching up to modern pronunciations and they didn't need Bracken for translation now.

Ruth and Marla started plating up the feast they were cooking. Everyone at the other end of the table got their food. The sounds of eating filled the room, mostly forks on plates but Unleea was an especially noisy eater.

No one attempted to teach her manners even Kendra was silent. _I wonder why?_ Leander thought.

He sat uncomfortably staring at the wood grain in the table for a few minutes waiting for his pancakes. Ruth sat a glass of milk in front of him so he had something to do. He sipped on his milk making it last.

There was a knock at the kitchen door and everyone looked up. Marla opened the door and let Bracken in.

"Hi everyone," he greeted them cheerfully as he walked in and sat across from Leander.

"Hi," Leander smiled at Bracken hoping that he had good news but knowing he would have to wait to hear it. There were many greetings in return.

Kendra smiled at him. Surrounded by family she couldn't get up to sit by to him without being rude. She continued to eat her breakfast but a little more quickly.

The sounds of eating resumed except for Unleea's noisy chewing. Leander looked down the table at the quiet little girl. Unleea was leaned over her plate blatantly staring down the table at Bracken, a rapt expression on her face.

"Finish your breakfast, Unleea," Maeve called her attention back to her food.

"Yes 'um," she answered. She resumed her noisy eating while surreptitiously stealing glances at Bracken.

Leander was glad she wasn't staring at him like that. He looked across at Bracken and saw him roll his eyes and smile. He had to stifle a laugh. Bracken was in a good mood, he hoped he also had good news.

Ruth sat a large stack of pancakes and bacon in front of Leander.

"Here you go. Don't let their teasing keep you from eating all you want. I know I make the best pancakes," she said smiling.

She winked at him and he grinned in return.

"Thanks," he replied.

"Breakfast? Bracken," she asked turning her attention to him.

"No thanks," he replied as he reached down the table, snagged the syrup bottle and sat it next to Leander's plate of pancakes.

"Thanks," Leander said and poured a small amount of syrup on the stack. He cut into them and put a large forkful into his mouth.

Bracken watched him fill his mouth with food. "You got any other leads for looking for Raxtus today?" he asked him just as he started chewing. Holding back a laugh he watched Leander's face as he struggled with his immediate reaction to answer and Kendra's lesson on manners.

Leander looked up at him and saw the mischief in Bracken's eyes. He nodded still chewing.

"A few," he finally answered after swallowing his mouthful of food.

"Good! I thought I would join you and Seth today," he said warmly. He was enjoying this new side of his old friend. He was still concerned about him so he wanted to keep an eye on him for a little longer.

"Can I go too?" Kendra asked.

For some reason, Leander didn't feel comfortable thinking of her coming with them today. Besides, if they were going to repair the cabin she wouldn't be much help.

"I don't think that would be a good idea. This lead is in the swamp," Leander answered quickly before he took another bite. Kendra looked upset and he worried that he had hurt her feelings.

"Not your thing I'm afraid," her dad consoled her. "Maeve and Unleea will need all our help for a while. The guys can handle the search for Raxtus."

"What about Raxtus?" Seth mumbled as he entered the kitchen in rumpled sweatpants and large t-shirt, looking like he had rolled out of bed and was sleepwalking.

"We are going swamp diving today, looking for clues. Want to join us?" Bracken asked happily.

Kendra groaned, frustrated that Seth was going and she couldn't.

"Sure," Seth growled unhappily, as he sat down. "Can't wait. Milk and Pancakes?"

"Coming up!" his mother answered as she sat a glass of milk in front of him and ruffled his already messy hair. Even she was in a good mood.

Leander and Bracken went out on the front porch to wait for Seth to join them. He had gone upstairs to change into his 'swamp diving' clothes and retrieve his survival kit. Kendra was still in the kitchen helping with the finishing touches of after breakfast cleanup.

Some thought tickled the back of his mind and since Seth and Kendra were otherwise occupied he thought he would ask Bracken a touchy question.

"Bracken, I was just wondering why we have _human_ avatars. Why is the human form normal for our avatars to take on?" He blurted out the question.

Bracken looked at him surprised at the question. "A long time ago Mother explained that we do it for protection. Since we can shape-shift we mingle unsuspected among them. We have spread rumors and squashed a few. It is easier if we can talk to them face to face – to calm nervous people. Since we have to share this world with them is makes sense to be able to communicate on their level at the very least. We scare them in our real forms and so it is better to keep hidden," Bracken told him some of what his mother told him and what he had figured out on his own.

"It makes sense but does that mean I will never be able to have children if I give up my dragon form?" Leander got to the real question. The opportunity to ask another dragon or wizard never came up. Besides no female dragon wanted to mate with the runt Raxtus, it was too laughable. Even the potential of having offspring was something he never considered until now. That fleeting dream kiss got him thinking in a whole new direction. Was he human enough, normal enough to have that kind of life too?

"I don't think it is a problem. In this form, you _are_ human, with a few tweaks, like long life and ability to cast spells. But you are genetically compatible," Bracken answered, wondering if Leander had those tweaks since he seemed to be too human. "You're not giving up your dragon form?" he said negatively. He didn't want him doing anything permanent so soon.

"No, just thinking about it and just curious, long life thing you know. Who knows what will happen in the future?" Leander said evasively but liking the answer Bracken had given him. His future just became an amazing array of possibilities.

"Speaking of spells and the future have you felt any magical abilities yet?" Bracken asked curiously.

"No. I don't know what to feel for. I am used to invoking and becoming invisible but I can't honestly say I feel anything different or unusual. The strangest thing for Raxtus is not feeling the fairy magic. I don't know what either feels like, since I was invoked without any active magic," Leander said and hefted his pack to his back as he saw Seth open the door.

Following close behind him were Kendra and Marla. Unleea peeked out the door but stayed in the house.

"Be careful all of you," Kendra said as she lightly punched her brother's shoulder. She gave Leander a quick friendly hug.

Leander felt Kendra's warm arms unexpectedly wrap around him but did not return the hug. She didn't seem to notice in her hurry to get to Bracken. Marla followed with her own quick friendly hug. Marla didn't notice that Leander did not react. His confused smile froze on his face because he didn't know how to respond.

Though the hugs were brief, they were startling. He hadn't anticipated the friendly personal contact especially from Kendra's mother. He felt the blood rush to his face. The women couldn't hug his shoulders because of the pack on his back so they had wrapped their arms around his waist and pulled him close. Unexpected feelings and thoughts flooded his brain and his body responded in unexpected ways. Baffled by his reaction he backed up away from the family oriented farewell.

Kendra wrapped her arms around Bracken. She buried her face in his chest. "I wanted to go with you," she mumbled in a whisper. She didn't want to seem pouty but she was. She coveted every moment she could get with him. It wasn't fair that he was in Fablehaven and she couldn't be with him.

Bracken wrapped his arms around her, lowered his head and whispered back, "I know but not today, you have other work to do." He lifted her chin and kissed her.

Seth rolled his eyes at his sister's theatrics and turned his head away. He noticed Leander's retreat; his cheeks were red and his expression confirmed his embarrassment and confusion, he was backing off the porch. Seth felt sorry for him. He didn't know how to handle all of this. Touching, hugging, kissing even just innocent family stuff, and socially acceptable. It was all new to him.

Puberty was bad enough to go through, but not having a lifelong background of social ease, it had to suck even worse. He was totally at ease with his arm around his shapely mother's shoulder. This would probably drive Leander to distraction, he thought. He should try to help him out.

"Bye Mom," Seth kissed her cheek. "Bracken, Leander and I will meet you on the path when you are through smooching with all the ladies," he teased and laughed.

"Let's go," he said seriously, as he walked past Leander pulling on his arm.

Leander turned and followed him quickly.

"I don't know what or who got you going but it helps to think of something else," he said quietly as they walked across the wide lawn to the preserve walkway.

Leander's face flushed redder and his nervous glance back at the house let Seth know he was right. Damn hormones.

Leander looked at Seth as they quickly walked away from the house. Last night when he woke from the dream, Seth told him he knew what he was feeling. He had said it was normal. He wasn't expecting to find out about possible daytime experiences so soon though. He looked back at the women crowded around Bracken. Unleea had joined them now. He looked at Seth again and tried to smile but couldn't. This was normal?

"What do I do? How do I stop this feeling?" he asked bewildered.

The look of panic on his face almost made Seth laugh.

"Think about the hermit troll barfing up stinking slime. Remember the smell?" he suggested, using the memory himself to keep a smile off his face.

"Oh yeah, that was gross," Leander replied and shuddered at the memory of the foul odor. "That helps thanks." It helped for only a moment until he remembered that Kendra had sat with him, her warm arms around him while the stinking slime rotted a few feet in front of them.

Just then, Bracken caught up to them and thankfully derailed his runaway train of thought.

"Swamps? Really?" Seth complained as they headed into the woods. "Couldn't you have thought of somewhere else? Even if we don't actually go into a swamp, we will have to return looking like we went. Yuk." He shivered thinking of walking home wearing wet stinky swamp slime.

"Hugo will meet us at the cabin and Mendingo will be there as soon as he finishes a quick job with Dad. We will get that cabin back up on its foundations before the day is out," Seth said proudly, changing the subject. "I don't want Mom and Dad to stay mad at me for toppling the place but I'm glad we did it. Aren't you?"

"Yes, I am grateful we found her. My Dad will be very happy to see her," Leander admitted. "So how are we going to arrange to get them back together and still find the ones responsible for murder and attempted murder?"

"Well…" Bracken said as he led them toward the cabin, "I've been thinking…"


	26. Dragon Remains

Dragon Remains

Based on characters from Fablehaven© by Brandon Mull. The original characters and plot details are my property. No copyright infringement intended.

Warren arrived and didn't mind the relocation of the cabin to new foundations. He was cordial to Leander when they met and interested in his search for his friend Raxtus and wished him luck. There were few opportunities to socialize with him for he had his own focus and reasons for being at Fablehaven. Leander was sad he couldn't tell him who he really was but knew it was for the best.

While waiting for the proper time to 'find' the dragon remains Unleea taught Seth every shadow charmer skill she knew how to do. He caught on quickly and he did each one well. Shadow charmers could do so much more that he ever thought. He bet that even the Sphinx had no clue about some of this stuff or he would have used it on him and the others.

Unleea had grown up in a group of five shadow charmers. She saw so many different skills. Some she couldn't do but she knew of them. She also knew some of the Shadowmaster's capabilities. She could describe it to him and he tried it out. He was amazed that he figured out how to do everything she described to him. The physical stuff was all about manipulating heat and he found himself adept at it.

The most incredible thing was getting inside someone's mind. He couldn't read their minds but he could cloud and uncloud minds leaving them thoughtless, leave a shadow that he could follow and sometimes he could compel them to speak on a specific subject. Seth was disinclined to use the later ability because when he tried it, it was painful for both him and the subject. The feat left him with a bad headache for hours.

He was still amazed that Unleea could project her thoughts to him and as they became more used to each other their range increased and he could hear her from farther away.

She had started going with Seth and Leander on their 'search for Raxtus'. Bracken had been called back to help in his mother realm for a while. They kept up the pretense of actually looking for the missing dragon roaming the sanctuary in the safer places. While they walked Unleea was either teaching Seth or they practiced their skills. Leander was enjoying the walks and it kept him away from the house and his mother.

Kendra wasn't interested in going with them unless Bracken was going and so she stayed home and worked with Maeve teaching her modern history and technology.

"Why didn't we go in swamp?" Unleea asked on the third day.

"What do you mean?" Seth asked her, he thought Leander was doing a good job of fake tracking and looking for clues.

"We passed the little dragon track back there," she said and pointed back as they headed away from the swamp.

"Oh!" Leander exclaimed realizing that they _had_ passed over Raxtus' tracks to the swamp. "I wasn't going to take you into the swamp just like I wasn't going to take Kendra into it," he lied.

"That's alright; you go into swamp. I will stay here with Seth and teach him about keeping the slime off his clothes," she told Leander. "Do you want to learn that while he tracks dragon into the swamp?" she asked Seth.

"I can keep the slime off my clothes? Yes, I want to learn that. Bye, Leander. Holler if you need help or if you find anything," Seth said and waved him on as he concentrated on something they were sharing mentally.

"Oh, whatever," Leander moaned. He walked back to the track of Raxtus that lead to the swamp.

He followed the track and found that it was easy to follow the subtle clues in the mushiness of the swamp even though Raxtus had walked through many weeks before. He was actually good at tracking and enjoyed it. He had tracked several creatures through Fablehaven the last two days. Seth and Unleea were so involved with each other they hadn't noticed where he led them. He was surprised she noticed Raxtus' track.

He found the place where the dragon had dug down into the mud and fallen to sleep. He looked around for the swamp troll and heard nothing but as he turned back to the spot where Raxtus had slept he saw a glimmer in the dried mud. He reached down and pulled out a bright metallic looking scale. Sunlight filtering through the thick swamp canopy caused rainbow iridescence to glimmer in the platinum scale, it was Raxtus' scale. There was dried blood mixed with the dried mud on the edge that hadn't washed off. Proof that he was in the swamp and someone had wounded him. He tried to remember if the swamp troll had actually done something to him besides irritate him but he couldn't remember, though the gash on his ribs was an indication maybe there had been more to the altercation than he remembered. Raxtus might remember but he wasn't going to invoke the dragon again if he could help it.

He looked around some more to see if there were any other scales or other clues. He took a few photos of the indentation of dragon footprints in the dried mud and the imprint of Raxtus' thorny jaw. He put the scale into his backpack and headed back to the edge of the swamp.

He heard the noise just a second before he felt the first pain. The swamp troll hit him from the front with a barrage of stones and sticks. He had no choice but to duck and run. He could feel blood flowing from the holes in his face, chest and stomach. He yelled, hoping that Seth could hear him or the troll yelling at him and that he could come and help him out.

The troll attacked him again tripping him. Leander fell and his face hit a rotting log. The troll hit him over the head with a rotten stick. The half-mushy stick broke but it also cut deeply into his scalp.

Leander was dazed and he thought he heard Seth screaming in trollish. He finally was able to think about turning invisible, it didn't come as automatically as it had when he was a dragon. Between disappearing and Seth yelling the swamp troll ran away.

He shook his head and pushed himself to his feet.

"Thanks Seth," he said looking around for his friend but no one was there.

Leander stumbled toward the last place he saw his friend, his eye was swollen and his head ached. He walked and walked. He became visible again to check on his injuries. He determined that he was not bleeding to death. He felt like he had holes in the chest and his leg too. Blood and swamp water covered his clothes and he had wet slime dripping off of his hair and shirttails.

Painfully, he followed his own footprints but was beginning to think he was going in circles before he finally saw them sitting on a log in the distance.

"Seth, why did you leave me, where did you go? You yelled at the troll then ran off?" he yelled in tears and ready to collapse from the pain.

Seth jumped up, shocked at his appearance.

"I didn't yell at a troll," Seth said confused. He ran over and helped Leander to the dry log where they had been sitting. "What happened? You were supposed to yell if you needed help. A troll did this to you?"

"I did yell! But… I heard you! He ran away when you yelled in trollish or something. I thought he was going to kill me," he said as he lightly touched his cheek and winced.

"No, I didn't hear you and it wasn't me," Seth denied. He was busily pulling a first aid kit from his backpack.

Unleea was staring at Leander, wincing.

"What?" he rudely asked her, her stare was too intense for him.

"Sorry," she said, "I know you hurt, you just look so beat up."

"Thanks …Ouch!" he said sarcastically and winced again as Seth started cleaning the wound on his head.

"Sorry, it's pretty dirty. We need to get you back to the house," Seth told him. "Unleea do you see any fairies around?" Seth asked her.

"No, haven't seen any for a while," she said, slowly turning around in a circle looking.

"Well, I guess we will have to get you home the hard way... unless you know of another way, Unleea?" Seth asked hoping she knew a way of carrying him using shadow skills.

"No, I don't," she shrugged, "you or me – yes, him – no."

"Let's go," Leander struggled to get up. Seth pulled him the rest of the way up and they headed back the way they had come. Leander leaned heavily on Seth's shoulder as Seth pulled him along.

A few minutes later Seth saw a fairy.

"Please get Kendra, we need help. Hugo or Mendingo would help if they are nearby," he said as politely as he could. The fairy looked didn't even look at him and flew off in the wrong direction to get Kendra.

"Great!" Seth grumbled. Fairies never forgot that he had turned one of them into an imp – by mistake but some of them didn't care.

"Do you want to go on?" he asked Leander.

"Yes, my leg hurts a lot but I can go on for a while," he replied wearily. He knew he was losing blood and he didn't really want to go on, but he didn't want to stay near the swamp either.

"What is that sound?" Unleea squeaked. She ran up to Seth and hid herself between him and Leander, she virtually disappeared.

Seth listened and heard the familiar jangle of Mendingo's metal joints as he ran. Wow, he thought, Kendra's name means something to them even if they don't like me.

"Sit, Mendingo will carry you home," he told Leander and lowered him to sit on a convenient boulder.

Leander sighed wishing he could lie down. His body wounds were aching but leg was hurting much worse now. The bloody gash in his leg felt much larger than the bloody rip in his jeans.

Mendingo arrived and Seth asked him to carry Leander carefully back to the house. Seth and Unleea ran behind the tall limberjack as he smoothly ran to the house gently cradling Leander.

The fairy had told Kendra and she and her grandmother met them on the trail not far from the house.

The main house had a small room that Grandma Larsen used as a clinic. Mendingo carried him to the room, lowered Leander's feet to the floor and stood him up.

Leander sagged weakly against Seth as Mendingo walked away. Seth helped him sit on the exam table and together they stripped off his bloody shirt and t-shirt. Using a pair of scissors, Seth cut him out of his clinging wet jeans. They both cringed when they saw the extent of his leg injury. Leander lay on the hard table in only his shorts as Mrs. Larsen approached him.

"No take everything off," she told him and shook her head. "Seth, get him a towel to wrap up in. That swamp water will likely cause infection. I'll have to clean you up good to prevent it."

She turned away and began pulling things out of several of the drawers. Seth pulled a towel from a drawer and handed it to him. Leander tried to wiggle out of his shorts but Seth took the scissors and cut them off too. Covered in only the towel he felt even more vulnerable.

Mrs. Larsen returned with a syringe. "This is a local anesthetic. It will deaden the nerves so it won't hurt when I clean and stitch up the wounds," she told him when she saw his panicked stare at the needle.

He winced at the pain of the injections but watched without pain amazed as she cleaned the wound, stitched and bandaged his leg. He kept his eyes closed as she stitched the wound under his eye.

Mrs. Larsen put five stitches in his upper thigh, three more in his scalp and two under his eye. While she was working on him, Leander described his trip into the swamp. He wanted to talk because he was embarrassed and uncomfortable. He felt so exposed and awkwardly dependent on her as he had been dependent on Seth to help him out of the swamp. He had always depended on only himself; this was another new human experience. Not altogether bad but he could do without the pain.

"Seth, open my pack. I found something of interest before I was attacked," he tried to smile but the deadening in his face made him feel lopsided.

Seth opened the pack and pulled out the scale.

"No way! This is Raxtus' scale," Seth said in amazement.

"That's great! Good job," Mrs. Larsen commented as she worked on his wounds.

"I believe it is. It's a small scale and the footprints were small for a dragon, so I believe it has to be Raxtus'. I found it in the mud; it has blood on it so it means it was pulled from a dragon. It wasn't a natural shedding; something attacked him. I took pictures of his footprints and it appeared that he lay there for a while. He didn't appear to have died there nor was he dragged off. He walked away.

"I now know where Raxtus has been and that someone or something had wounded him. Probably that troll," he said as Mrs. Larsen finished stitching the scalp wound.

"It will be a while before you can go looking again," she said as she bandaged a small hole in his leg that didn't need stitching.

She bandaged seven other wounds on his face, neck and body that didn't need stitches but were still bad. Because of the swamp water she gave him antibiotics and a strong sedative and sent him to bed.

Wrapped only in the towel, Seth helped Leander up the stairs. He was very unsteady. The deadening kept him from feeling anything in his leg as they climbed the stairs but he was still weak. He had lost a good amount of blood but not enough to need a transfusion, his skin was even paler than before. The dark stitches on his blood red gashes, big 'flesh' colored bandages and red welts on his pale white body were glaringly obvious.

"You look like hell," Seth said as they reached his bed.

"Thanks, I feel like it too," he confirmed as he sat down on the edge of the bed. He felt miserable and very human.

Seth opened a couple of drawers and pulled out a pair of his gym shorts and Leander's new boxers.

"You need to be well covered, they will be checking on you often. Better be prepared for visitors," he said as explanation for the clothes he handed him.

He walked to the window as Leander slipped out of the towel and into both the boxers and shorts.

"You will be a hero though… when you wake up. Everyone will know what you found and what you went through to get it.

"I, on the other hand, am in big trouble for letting you go alone," Seth sighed, gazing out the window. He saw his father and grandfather walking quickly across the lawn toward the house. "They will continue to send me with you unless you don't want me to go but they probably won't let Unleea go any more."

"It wasn't your fault and it happened so fast that you probably would have been injured also. I would still like you to go tracking with me. I wanted to say thanks for getting me out of there," Leander replied suddenly feeling very sleepy. "As far as Unleea goes, you two will deal with it and find a way to practice and learn new stuff." He slid under the covers and closed his eyes. He didn't hear Seth's reply or see him leave the room. He slept the rest of the day.

Seth showed the rest of the family Leander's find, Raxtus' bloody scale and the photos. They were amazed that he had found something they hadn't. The find renewed their hope that he might find the little dragon.

Seth was right; he was in big trouble when he explained how Leander had gotten hurt. They grounded him through the fall.

Leander, comfortably sedated, slept and he dreamed.

_Raxtus sat comfortably on his hoard feeling the dragon magic building inside him. The wall of his secret cavern unexpectedly caved inward as his father forced his way in. Raxtus rose to his full height to confront his father and to protect his treasure and lair. Celebrant towered over him, he scanned and sensed his son as he would an opponent and then he laughed, "Fire - strong but ordinary."_

_Raxtus breathed fire for a second time, it flowed out in great and powerful streams having little effect on his father's adamantine scales but it was still quite impressive and would have severely damaged a lesser dragon. His father huffed, "Not too bad, but you will never be anything but a runt..." he turned his back and shaking his head walked out of the cave. Raxtus, humiliated again, fell to his belly on his treasure and tucked his head under his wing._

He woke up, again shaken by a dream.

The light in the room from the window was dim, Seth wasn't in the room so it probably meant it was twilight instead of dawn. He hadn't slept the night away. He thought about the dream. Always a runt – that was Raxtus. He couldn't change that and having a breath weapon even if it could scorch his father wouldn't really change anything. He was resolved to remain human now, even if it was occasionally painful.

He heard a light knock on the door.

"Come in."

Kendra stuck her head in the door. "You're awake! How are you feeling? Need anything?"

"Um, I'm not sure," he replied but his stomach grumbled loudly and they both laughed. He winced as the laugh pulled on the stitches under his eye and the wound on his neck. The deadening had worn off. He felt dull pain all over his body.

"Do you want me to bring you something to eat or are you coming down? Dinner is just over and the food is still hot," she said invitingly.

"Let me see," he said, threw back the covers and slowly sat up on the edge of the bed. Kendra entered the room when she saw he had on shorts. He turned his whole body instead of just his head to look at her. "I think I can come down," he affirmed. He slowly stood and didn't wobble. He ached but it wasn't unbearable.

Kendra flinched as he stood up. She didn't know which leg he had injured but the description Seth gave her and the look of the stitches under his eye and the wounds on the rest of his body were enough for her to feel sympathetic pain.

"Should I change into regular clothes?" he asked her unsure of what he should do. He was self-conscious wearing only shorts.

"No just put on a shirt, you have a reason for not dressing for dinner," she laughed glad he was feeling well enough to get up. She opened a drawer and handed him a t-shirt from the dresser.

Leander pulled on the t-shirt wincing a few times. Moving around let him know he was still very sore. She helped him by straightening the back of the t-shirt.

"I'll walk with you – just in case," she smiled and they walked down the stairs slowly. The stitches tugged uncomfortably on his thigh.

"Congratulation Leander, another good find, too bad you found a vicious troll also," Scott said jovially when he saw them coming slowly down the stairs.

"Thanks," he said and stopped mid-smile as the stitches on his face tugged painfully.

Mrs. Larsen met him in the kitchen with a pill in her hand. "This will help with the pain I know you must be feeling by now," she said sympathetically.

"Thanks," he replied and took the pill. He looked at Kendra uncertainly.

"Swallow it with milk. Don't chew it," Kendra whispered and handed him a full glass of milk.

He managed swallowing it after the third try using most of the milk.

He ate only one plate of food, rationing himself. He wasn't hungry after one plate but he was far from full.

After he ate, the adults invited him and Seth to join their discussion. They sat in the study with Stan, Scott, Ruth and Maeve as they talked what the next step was.

"I think I need to follow the trail through the swamp and see where it leads," he stated looking only at Stan or Scott. Out of the corner of his eye, he watched as Maeve sat, holding the small scale in her hands. She silently stroked the smooth surface of the scale, looking toward whoever was speaking but not focusing on them.

He wondered what she thought. The size of the scale was not that of a fully grown dragon but of a very young dragon, she had to know he wasn't normal. His imagination led him to believe that the sadness on her face was because she was disappointed in the size of the scale.

Maeve was worried that Raxtus was wandering around injured because someone had forcibly removed the scale. What other damage had been done? She was also amazed how much the scale reminded her of Celebrant, she longed to see both him and her only son.

"Yes, I agree it warrants more investigation but you need to take Seth and Hugo with you," Stan said sternly.

"Believe me, I will not go into it alone again," he readily confirmed, focusing on the conversation.

"You will need to let your stitches heal for a few days before you walk very far. Even if Hugo carried you, it wouldn't be good to start too soon. Give it a couple days," Ruth advised him.

Leander nodded. He didn't feel like walking around anyway. The thought of the return trek up the stairs to bed was daunting enough for him at the moment.

"Hugo and I could go in there and see what we can find while he recovers. I'll give that troll a good talking to," Seth volunteered.

"You should have gone in with him instead of playing shadow games with Unleea," his dad reprimanded him again.

"I know. It won't happen again," he replied apologetically. He had told them earlier his reason for not going in the swamp. His mom and dad thought learning to keep slime off of his clothing was a poor excuse for letting a troll almost kill Leander. He agreed. He was sickened by the almost tragedy.

Ruth gave Leander another pain relieving pill to take with him in case he needed one in the night and sent the two boys upstairs to bed.

Leander put the pill on the table next to the bed and Seth got him a glass of water and left it next to the pill.

"Why didn't you turn back into dragon and eat that troll?" Seth asked as they both lay in bed.

"If I'm going to be human, I have to take the bad with the good," he replied. "I can't become a dragon every time I'm in a bad situation besides what if someone saw me change, and then my secret would be out. I'm not ready for that," he yawned as the first pill's effect took hold of him. "Goodnight, Seth."

"Night." Seth mumbled. He lay there thinking about not using the ability to change into a dragon while a troll is beating you almost to death and couldn't get a grasp on it. Leander must really be afraid of the other dragons to risk dying as a human. Seth fell asleep thinking about turning into a dragon and killing the troll for Leander.

Seth and Hugo went out the next day hoping to find more clues.

Leander woke to bright sunlight streaming into the room. He was in pain and he still ached, so he took his waiting pain pill. He was surprised that he had slept later than Seth and that he was gone. That afternoon Leander spent a little time in the garden with Kendra. His stitches uncovered and exposed to the sunlight made them feel better. The fairies were interested in any news of Raxtus. Kendra told them that Leander had found one of his scales. They were excited that maybe he would be found soon. Leander's day passed in fog of altered reality thanks to the pills.

Seth and Hugo returned when they found nothing more of Raxtus. He had nothing to report when they arrived but Seth was sullen the rest of the evening.

Fairies, being the gossips that they are, spread the news Kendra had given them. It eventually got to the Fairy Queen's shrine and made its way to the Queen. Bracken heard about the find and Leander's wounds and came the day after.

"What did _you_ find out there in the swamp?" Bracken asked Seth as they sat at the table in his bedroom.

Leander listened, stretched out on his bed, the pain reliever Ruth had given him today was less potent but still kept the aches and pains tolerable. Leander refused Bracken's offer of healing, he wanted to see how his body worked on its own.

"We found the troll's lair a large dry island covered with the bones of animals. It has one large tree that covers most of the island so you can't see it from the air. Um… and ah… well…" Seth reluctantly stammered. "Hugo accidentally killed the swamp troll. I didn't want to tell Grandpa… but he attacked us … I used my power, commanded him to stop and stopped him dead in mid attack but Hugo was all ready to defend us. Um … he crushed the troll's skull."

"Good for him," Leander mumbled spitefully.

"An island covered with bones, huh. Dead troll, hmm. Let's go take a look tomorrow. Leander, you can go with us can't you? Sounds like a great place to set up an astounding find," Bracken considered with a smile.

"Yes, if Hugo will carry me. Tomorrow will be three days, they won't try to talk me out of going," he said smiling at Bracken's train of thought. The stitches didn't hurt so much when his smile pulled on them.

They arrived on the island about ten in the morning. The whole island was more than a foot deep in bones. The troll and other predators that used the dry island were busy killers and eaters. The lowest bones were mushy and chalky. The body of the troll was gone though there was plenty of dried blood to show that predators probably tore him apart.

"Don't worry about your grandfather finding out that the troll is dead. He wouldn't last forever out here anyway. He has fed lots of other creatures even if they weren't happy with his taste," Bracken told Seth.

"Raxtus almost ate him when he started a fight. I wish he had since the troll almost killed me. I'm achy all over and I hate these stitches, they are itchy," Leander complained. The pain pills kept him from hurting too bad but they didn't stop the itching.

"I offered," Bracken shrugged reminding him that he was still available to rush the healing process.

Leander smiled and shook his head. He wanted to go through the healing process normally.

"I don't think this will do as a site for our ancient bones they would have disintegrated by now," Leander said kicking the mushy bones with his boot toe.

"You're right. We will need a cave," Seth agreed glad he didn't need to admit his and Hugo's part in the death of the troll.

"Seth, think of a cave well protected from intruders. Somewhere dragon bones would be safe for 800 years," Leander encouraged.

"Yeah, I can think of one. The demon Graulas' cave, no one went there. He was there since they formed Fablehaven. He set up his 'home' near the entrance and didn't travel back into the cave. Raxtus could have gone in there to sleep now that it's just an empty cave. It's not too far from the swamp and the trail there isn't too dangerous," Seth answered.

"Let's go," Bracken agreed.

They traveled back to dry solid ground where Hugo waited for them.

"Hugo, take us to where Graulas' cave was," Seth told him.

Hugo carefully settled Leander in the crook of his forearm while Seth and Bracken climbed up on his shoulders. Hugo ran for the cave.

Without Graulas' protective wards in effect Hugo was able to enter the stone floored cave still carrying the three young men and walked past the remains of Graulas' residence. Bracken cast one of his orbs of light to lead the way. They went deeper into the cave until they found the perfect spot for what they needed.

Leander and Bracken waited in the cave and planned the photo angles while Seth and Hugo went to get Axezeles' artifacts from their hiding place. Bracken took one photo of the stone floor near Graulas' pile of junk showing a scuffed area behind where Graulas did not go. Not proof that Raxtus had been there but it was a possible clue, enough of a clue to cause them to check out the cave.

Seth and Hugo returned an hour later with the artifacts. Leander and Bracken set them up in the cave so that the pictures they took even at different angles were ambiguous. They didn't have to pass heavy inspection since it was only a temporary hoax.

When they finished photographing, they took the artifacts and moved back to the entrance of the cave. Hugo went back into the cave to the open seam Bracken had found and broke the ceiling rock and caused enough of a cave-in to appear to 'bury' the body of Axezeles. He took more photos, though the rock fall actually covered very little it looked impressive in the photos but it didn't have to pass heavy inspection.


	27. Blackwell Keep

Blackwell Keep

Based on characters from Fablehaven© by Brandon Mull. The original characters and plot details are my property. No copyright infringement intended.

The horn-like spike sat in the middle of the floor aged and crumbling. On the table lay the scale still looked shiny but it too was aged. They were definitely identifiable.

"Most of the dragon was gone. Predators had removed most of the flesh and bones of the body. We only took these because it would prove that we found a dragon's body. Seth and I recognized the spike. Raxtus has a similar one, though smaller, so we brought it with us." Bracken described the scene. "We also brought the heart scale."

"The heart scale?" Stan looked at them curiously.

"Scales littered the floor but I knew that it was the most certain way of identifying the death of a dragon," Leander told him. "Dragons don't give up their heart scales and there is only one way to get one – from the dead body. To bring any other scales was just more stuff to carry."

"I had Hugo bury the rest; he caused a caved-in. There was nothing else to find there," Bracken said ending any debate before it started. "We also have photos."

"I guess I will arrange for you to take this to Celebrant," Stan conceded. "Are you sure it is Axezeles?" he asked Bracken.

"Yes, the color, though faded, is right and the uniqueness of the spike. I have no doubt we found the body of Axezeles," Bracken affirmed. "But it will be up to Celebrant to make the final identification."

"Are you going with Bracken, Leander?" he asked.

"No. I am staying here to continue my search for Raxtus. They don't need me and I still haven't found evidence that he has left the sanctuary. Until I find that or his body, I will continue to search," he said. "That's what I'm being paid to do. Glad I could help find this though."

"Seems like you're finding everything but what you came here for; kidnapped women, scales, several trolls, now dragon remains," Ruth said impressed with the find.

"Seems that way doesn't it," he agreed.

"How do you feel after all the moving around today?" Mrs. Larsen asked him.

"My leg hurts. Everything else is sore but okay," he answered truthfully.

"I'll check you over when we are done here," she told him.

"Thanks." Leander replied.

"I would like to take Kendra, Seth and Unleea with me," Bracken said. "I may need their special skills in Wyrmroost. Something strange happened to this dragon and I don't know what I might run into. They may be able to help Celebrant and me with the mystery. Besides I need help carrying these and the table back to him also."

Later that evening Mrs. Larsen removed the stitches from below Leander's eye and on his scalp. The stitches in the deep gash on his leg needed to remain in place for a few more days.

Leander proposed a non-dangerous job for him to do while Seth was gone. He would be looking for traces of Raxtus just outside of the sanctuary's protective spell. It was a safe enough job since nothing hazardous would be outside the sanctuary. It could take him over a week to walk the perimeter of the sanctuary. Armed with a map and his GPS he would follow the invisible but very real border of Fablehaven.

Two days later with the stitches removed from his leg, he packed his backpack with his gear, clothes, food and water. He took a sleeping bag and small one-man tent for his long trek through the woods surrounding Fablehaven. In the company of his parents, Seth generously gave Leander a supply of walrus butter since he wouldn't have access to fresh milk. They watched him walk off the preserve and down the dirt road.

Leander walked until he came to a turn in the road. He turned the corner, crossed the road and concealed himself from possible prying fairy eyes. He dropped his pack on the backside of a tree and disappeared. He returned unseen to the house and Seth's room.

Celebrant's reply finally came and they made preparations to fly to the nearest local airport to Wyrmroost and arranged for a sanctuary helicopter to take them to the closest drop off to the protected sanctuary.

Three days later an invisible Leander entered Wyrmroost between Seth and Kendra. Although they couldn't feel it he was holding on to them skin on skin. Seth kept both Leander and Kendra calm, magical fear, even dragonfear didn't affect them. The connection with Kendra allowed both Seth and Leander to follow her through the Wyrmroost distractor spell.

Seth and Unleea were shade sharing, Maeve knew she was going and why. Unleea would get a fairylight boost, supposedly from Bracken but actually from Kendra, when they were in a safe place where she could reappear. She and Seth were going to shade walk around to see if they could find out who was behind the murder of Raxtus' siblings and the attempt on Axezeles' life.

Leander was going to listen and search also. Between the three of them, they felt sure they would overhear if there were someone shocked or pleased that they found the body of Axezeles. They would then follow them and listen to any conversations. Leander had potions that would keep the dragonfear from affecting him for hours but he wouldn't take one until he had to separate from Seth.

Bracken was carrying a large bag over his shoulder, Kendra and Seth each carried a backpack.

When the Keep's guardian met them at the entrance, he let Bracken and the others go on their way, knowing that they were expected, knew their way and they didn't need an introduction.

The stone walls echoed with their footsteps as they entered the dark keep. Kendra wasn't afraid since she was holding Seth's hand but she was sure the place was just as creepy as she had remembered it. They followed the main hall that went to the huge central room. Celebrant was there and so were a couple of other dragons, more or less filling the cavernous room. Kendra recognized the red and gold lion headed dragon as Agad's brother, Camarat.

"Celebrant," Bracken said loudly as they walked through a huge doorway. He bowed to Celebrant. Kendra and Seth followed his lead and also bowed but much lower.

"Prince Bracken," Celebrant greeted him with a regal head bow and barely nodded at the two adolescents beside him.

"We need to talk, in private," Bracken said to Celebrant.

"You have found my son?" he asked semi-curiously, the Fablehaven Caretaker had set up this meeting but had not told him what Bracken was going to tell him.

"No, but we have witnesses to another problem," Bracken said. "We need to discuss this in private."

"I have nothing to discuss with you if you haven't found my son or have news of his whereabouts," Celebrant dismissed them and turned away. He didn't want to chit-chat with the unicorn, in public or private.

Bracken shrugged and waved Seth forward. Kendra followed unwilling to let go of her brother's hand; likewise, Leander followed unseen. Bracken opened the flap of the pack on Seth's back and pulled out the crumbling pale blue spike. He sat it on the floor in front of them and they all stepped back.

Camarat, the first to see the spike, let out a surprised snarl and Celebrant turned back. All three dragons were incensed at the sight of the desiccated dragon's spike. There was a great stirring in the room as the three large dragons moved carefully around each other to get a better view of the distinctive spike.

The sight of three huge dragons getting closer to where they were standing made Kendra backup as far as she could and still maintain her grasp on Seth's arm. Even though she was not afraid, they were still very big and intimidating. She knew logically she was not even a mouthful for a dragon and one bite could end her life.

Celebrant gasped and a distressed growl rumbled deep in his chest. In a flash of blue light, he became human and keeping an eye on the spike, he strode menacingly up to Bracken.

"What is the meaning of this?" he asked quietly but viciously, his eyes flashing as he looked at him.

"We need to talk in private," Bracken stated again not intimidated by Celebrant's demeanor. Bracken knew that if Celebrant meant any of them harm he would have never invoked his avatar.

"I believe that may be so," he growled. He nodded curtly his expression remained menacing. He turned heading for a small human-sized door they hadn't noticed earlier.

"Hmm!" Bracken muttered curiously under his breath. He picked up the spike and placed it back in Seth's pack.

"Uh huh," Seth answered. Kendra and Leander remained clueless to their musings.

Celebrant entered the adjoining room leaving the door ajar. He was trembling with both anger and fear at what he had seen, he stood behind the door and watched as Bracken entered and the two children followed. When they all stood within the room, he slammed the door shut behind them.

Startled, they turned and Celebrant stood at the door.

"Where did you find that?" he asked his voice choked with anger and emotion. He felt as if his heart had been ripped out. He didn't know what to do as a man or a dragon. He hoped he was wrong and that it was some other dragon's spike.

"During our search for Raxtus we found a cave. In the cave we found the skeleton of a dragon and took the two identifying pieces with us - that spike," Bracken answered as he removed the spike from Seth's backpack again. "And this… heart scale." He pulled the scale from his jacket pocket.

The color and size of the scale made Celebrant's heart break. It was too large to be Raxtus' that left only one other. He had to look at it closely, had to know it wasn't what it looked like.

"No! No!" Celebrant loudly denied as he rushed up to Bracken and reached for the scale that resembled a familiar one in his memory. With one close look and touch, he realized it was true but he didn't want it to be.

Bracken held onto the scale.

"Are we safe from being seen in here?" he whispered to Celebrant. "I can guarantee we won't be heard but can you guarantee we can't be spied upon."

"That is why I invoked my avatar. It was the only way I could get into this room. This room is warded and safe against any spying," Celebrant said, emotions flavoring his words. "Tell me where? How?" he asked softly, caressing the scale. "I had always hoped this day would never come."

He shook his head miserably as Bracken released the scale into his insistent hand. His heart was completely broken.

Leander wanted to see if there was any dragonfear now that they were out of sight of any dragons and lightly lifted his hand from Seth's arm ready to grab him again if he needed to but there was none.

"It's safe here, you can let go of Seth," he whispered softly into Kendra's ear. She sighed, released her brother's hand and stood next to Bracken.

"All is not what it seems," Bracken declared. "We have witnesses that state that Navarog poisoned Axezeles with a sword cut and that all the eggs in your clutch were the target of assassination also. If the fairies had not acted, Raxtus would have been killed also."

"What? Who told you this?" Celebrant reeled at the news. In misery, he staggered back against the wall hugging the scale to his chest. He hated the overwhelming human emotions making him feel weak but this was horrifying news, and he should feel overwhelmed and emotionally devastated. Bracken came toward him and led him to a bench. He sank onto the seat afraid he would collapse with the terrible news – all of them, but Raxtus, murdered.

"I cannot reveal their identities just yet but we need to find out if someone here at Wyrmroost was involved. We know the Shadowmaster Kelmar was involved. He was someone's pawn and so was Navarog, but Navarog never took orders from just anyone.

"I knew you would want to have these here. We have respectfully treated her. I hoped by bringing the spike and scale here someone may reveal their treachery," Bracken continued. "Someone or some group was afraid of you fathering a frost dragon, especially a male."

Kendra watched as Celebrant stared miserably at the heart scale. It broke her heart to deceive him like this but he had to believe or he wouldn't take the right steps. He needed to be their lead in the search for the conspirators.

"How will we find these conspirators, these murderers?" he angrily asked Bracken.

"Seth is a shadow charmer and he has another shadow charmer with him. They will listen and search in the shadows. They are very good. He can also talk to the spirits in the Black well and get any information they have," Bracken explained.

Celebrant shook his head when he mentioned the Black well.

"The ones in the well know nothing. All they want is escape. They listen to no one. That is a dead end," Celebrant answered, looking up at Seth. "It is too dangerous to go there so I must insist that you avoid it."

"Yes, I will stay away from the well," he said walking up to Kendra and Bracken.

"Unleea it is time to come out now," Seth said as if it was her choice to appear not an effort of someone else. Kendra touched Seth's hand and reached the inch to Bracken's hand. Her fairylight glowed bright enough to eject Unleea from her shade share.

Unleea jumped up from the ground as if she had meant to do it that way. Kendra thought it looked professional. She was glad that they had practiced the move a few times.

She knew Leander was somewhere near but she had no idea where he was. She was still concerned about him, he was a dragon but he was vulnerable to dragonfear. He had specifically asked for courage potions so he could roam around the keep on his own. It didn't make sense to her. Gavin definitely hadn't been, Agad wasn't and Celebrant had shown no fear when he changed in the presence of Camarat and the other dragon. Why did Leander? Was he too human? Bracken was right, the spell may have changed him more than they thought.

"Celebrant this is Unleea, my fellow shadow charmer," Seth introduced her to him.

"She is very young," he told Seth. "You are very young," he addressed Unleea.

"Yes, I am but I am very talented. Close your eyes," she said.

He laughed but did it. She moved stealthily to the wall opposite him. They all watched her move and still could see her though they did not look at her.

"Find me – if you can," She whispered.

Celebrant opened his eyes. He scanned the room once, then twice. He got up and walked around the room, he walked right passed her and did not see her.

"She is still here?" he asked them.

"Yes, actually we can see her. But since you didn't see her move into the shadow you are blinded to her," Seth told him. "Unleea, good job!

"Thanks," she said and stepped forward into the bright light.

Celebrant spun around when her heard her voice, amazed that he had been within a few feet of her and had not seen her.

"I can see that you are truly prepared to seek out any culprits that may be here in the keep. You have my permission to search, sneak and listen to anything that might give you clues to the death of my mate and children.

"I am wondering if they might have also had something to do with Raxtus' disappearance. Though I suppose, since you are here, you have suspicions of your own. Find them, please," he appealed.

"We will try. First, you need to let it be known that we found the body of Axezeles so the rumor mills will start up," Seth said with confidence.

"Yes. I can see one problem though." Celebrant told them, looking with amazement at the four brave young people standing in front of him ready to take on this dangerous task.

"What is that?" Bracken asked.

"Dragons and the other denizens of this place will smell the shadow charmers. They might not know where they are but they will be cautious if they smell someone or something sneaking around.

"I do have a suggestion for neutralizing your odor. You won't like it but if you're going to get any information it is the only odor that is prevalent throughout the keep," Celebrant said thoughtfully.

Seth shuddered. He could see himself drenched in dragon pee and although he would do it, it made him gag at the thought.

"What would that be?" Kendra asked innocently. She knew anything noxious enough to fool a dragon would be gross. She was willing to laugh at or feel sorry for her brother, maybe a little of both.

"Sulfur," Bracken said nodding his head.

Seth sighed with relief. Kendra sighed because she didn't get to laugh at her brother.

"Yes," Celebrant confirmed. "Anything else would have a scent identifying the creature. The wrong creature smell in the wrong place would be just as dangerous," he added. "Bracken, I will need help with the spell. If you assist it will be mixed and be more neutral. If I were to cast by myself the sulfur may have an identifying smell to it."

Bracken and Celebrant cast their spells mixing the two sulfurs together. The smell of sulfur filled the room.

Kendra began to cough and choke on the fumes and her eyes burned. She headed for the door not knowing if anyone else was having trouble also.

"Wait!" Leander whispered in her ear, stifling his own cough. "You will ruin it if you open the door too soon."

"I can't breathe," she coughed, wiping the tears from her eyes.

"It won't last long," He reassured her.

As soon as he finished speaking, the air began to clear and she was able to breathe more easily.

"Thanks," she mumbled under her breath.

A muttered, "Mmm," was the only thing she heard as Celebrant walked quickly toward her.

He opened the door and yelled for water.

Kendra looked around the room and saw only Bracken. Seth and Unleea had disappeared into the shadows.

A minute later a Minotaur arrived at the open door. Suspiciously, his eyes scanned the room as he delivered the large jar of water and basket of cups.

Leander noticed the big beast's furtive attempt at gathering information about the meeting in the warded room. Normally a Minotaur would have considered it beneath his dignity to deliver water, even to Celebrant. He could just be curious, Leander thought, but he decided to watch for this individual when they started their search.

Celebrant took the water and Bracken took the basket. They closed the door again.

Seth and Unleea stepped out of the shadow to join them around the water jar.

"Drink up this may be the only water you get for a couple of hours. Come back to this room just after midnight, there is a midnight shriek so you will know what time it is," he laughed at some joke only he knew.

"If you don't show up we will start a search, don't know that we will find you if you are captured but we will try. Try not to get caught," Bracken said brightly.

Bracken poured water into every cup and they all took one.

"Water?" Kendra whispered pouring more water into her cup until it almost overflowed.

"Yes? How?" Leander asked.

She stepped back from the conversation between Seth, Bracken and Celebrant. She crossed her arms holding the cup at an odd angle, as if she wasn't paying attention to it. Leander tipped the cup just a bit more and was able to get a good drink out of the full cup.

"Thanks," the whisper tickled her ear.

"Mmm," she replied, as she shook her head.

She heard one quick almost silent ha!

"Bye bye," she said quietly, "be safe."

"Be careful little brother," she said loudly. "You too little sister," she smiled at Unleea.

Unleea looked up at her uncertainly, and then she smiled back. "I'll keep him out of trouble don't worry," she said confidently.

"Ready?" Celebrant asked.

"Yes," Seth replied. "Open the door and close your eyes, all of you," he commanded.

Kendra noticed that the room got cold when she closed her eyes, then the room felt normal again. She assumed that Seth, Unleea and Leander left the room unseen each using their various invisibility skills. She opened her eyes and the door was open and she was alone with Bracken and Celebrant.

"Wait for a moment as they get to where they need to be." Bracken said.

"We brought the remains of the table used in the spell with us." Bracken gestured to the large pack he had carried in.

"Thank you, it will be destroyed," Celebrant declared looking at the pack with disgust. He was sorry he had agreed to the use of the spell. He didn't want to think of his son dead, even if he wasn't the son he had hoped to have. Raxtus was gone, who knows where. Lost, like his mother before him.

Knowing what she knew about Axezeles, Kendra had to ask Celebrant a question that had been burning in her mind. Leander wasn't around to hear the answer but she assumed he really didn't want to know it anyway.

"Excuse me. I have a question, if you don't mind," she asked tentatively.

"Go ahead," he answered, somewhat distracted.

"You knew that you two had an excellent chance of one or more of your offspring being frost dragons. They would be very powerful if male especially as wizards. What were you thinking?" Kendra asked.

"We knew that at least one of our offspring would be a frost dragon, her and I," Celebrant spoke softly confirming her suspicion. He still had the heart scale in his hand. "Did you know that my father was a frost dragon?"

Kendra and Bracken both gasped.

"Yes." He smiled at their reaction but did not look up from the scale in his hand. "My father was Morisant, no one still living knows that little bit of information." He laughed ruefully at declaring the secret information to them.

"Not every mating is for procreation and even the ones that are can be unfruitful. My mother never told him that he was to be a father. She found out she was egg heavy shortly before he chose to become a wizard. Until the eggs in the nest were ready to hatch there was no use telling him by then he had made his choice. She chose to keep the secret. Only her children and one other knew who our father was. Of five eggs only three of us survived to hatch. My two siblings died in battle against demons before my father helped create Zzyzx.

"But Axezeles and I knew that our odds were very great that one or even all of our offspring would be frost dragons."

"I spent a lot of time around my father and he was kind to me even though he did not know I was his son. Morisant knew what idiots most of the other wizards were. He knew the world needed him. When Morisant foolishly tried to prolong his presence by becoming one of the undead and lost his senses, it was a tragic thing. We are fortunate that the remaining wizards had enough power to subdue him. With Morisant gone we were… we _are_ in dire shape. The world needs another hero or two. I know everyone thinks that dragons hate wizards for what they have done in the past but sometimes even we need them.

"Without Morisant Zzyzx would have never worked. His skill and intellect were the keys to success in that effort. Now no one even comes close to his skills. Wizards are growing old and dying and so is our ability to protect us in the sanctuary world from the outside world. Agad doesn't want to see it; he too is getting very old. He is definitely not an idiot but he isn't as intelligent as Morisant was.

"Sanctuary spells will fail sooner or later and no one will have the skills to repair them. If there is no one who can cast the spells to build and repair sanctuaries then our numbers are limited by the sanctuaries that we have now and those will dwindle eventually.

"Even one male frost dragon would have made our future more secure and a few would have negated that concern altogether," he said, exasperation and regret mingling in his mind. He still had hope for the future but at the moment he was just terribly sad. He rubbed the rough surface of the desiccated scale in his hand, preparing himself for the expected depressing demands of the next few days.

"They obviously don't know they are putting themselves in danger by killing frost dragons," she said shaking her head.

Kendra thought about what Leander had said about dragons hating wizards. He wanted to be normal and being a wizard wasn't a normal thing. It wasn't a freak thing but it wasn't normal. Besides he was so human and had showed no signs of magic use yet, she wondered if he would ever be able to cast spells.

Kendra didn't know anything about dragon fertility but with Axezeles found, she and Celebrant could possibly have more offspring. They lived a long time maybe they still had time to hatch more baby dragons. Leander would have brothers and sisters. Maybe it would make him feel better. Then again, it might make him feel worse if he had sibling dragons, which he could compare his own deficiencies against. Kendra thought that maybe Leander was right. He might be better off staying human and not involving himself in the dragon world.

What Celebrant said made Bracken very nervous. Bracken knew the Fairy Queen could do a lot but this was not her realm. Here, in this world, there were some things that only a wizard could do. They needed to find out who was against there being frost dragons and fix this now. The world couldn't wait much longer for baby dragons to hatch, and then wait another 200 years for them to mature to be able to invoke their avatar.


	28. Mourning Begins

Mourning Begins

Based on characters from Fablehaven© by Brandon Mull. The original characters and plot details are my property. No copyright infringement intended.

Leander stood outside the door, waiting. He felt the potion working preventing him from feeling dragonfear. He could see Celebrant in the open door. It would have been strange for the door to open and no one to appear so Celebrant stood partially turned to the open door as if he was relaying some other information to the occupants of the room before stepping out. Leander could no longer hear the conversation inside the room. Bracken's shield was in full effect as were the room's wards.

A few minutes later Celebrant and Bracken came out of the room. Celebrant held the spike in one hand and the scale in the other.

"There will be mourning! My mate Axezeles' body has been found," he announced. "All of Wyrmroost will know of this."

Bracken remained close to the door of the room. Celebrant walked to a raised platform near the north wall, he sat the spike and scale on the stone surface. He walked to the center of the room and in a bright flash the man disappeared and the huge sleek platinum dragon stood in his place.

"Show yourselves!" He bellowed with his multi-toned deep voice. From every door and ledge dozens of creatures and even a few dragons came forth. Twenty more individuals entered the hall from unseen passages.

"Make sure the news is spread. I want everyone mourning by midnight," Celebrant announced.

Mumbles from around the room started, even Bracken could hear some of the comments.

"Another mourning so soon? A second dragon found dead in less than a year."

"But this is Axezeles. This is a special mourning."

"It's so sad."

"Another death and another mourning?"

"Yuj glumf vos egat."

Leander moved slowly – listening to each comment, some he would not understand. He knew Seth and Unleea were also listening, but they could understand some of the strange languages. Seth and Unleea had taken the north of the hall and he had taken the south so they wouldn't follow the same lead.

Leander saw a Minotaur and recognized the patch of tan fur above his right eye and walked toward him. He caught a strange comment from a tall thin woman and decided to follow her instead as she left the hall.

Leander followed the woman down the hallway to a steep staircase. They wound down level after level into the depths of the keep. They finally reached the bottom of the stairs. They were in a natural cave now.

She walked toward a massive door in one wall and opened it easily. Now Leander was sure she wasn't human. He had decided earlier the she didn't smell human as he followed her down the close staircase, she smelled of wood and dirt. She had to be a dryad of some sort.

As she walked through the door the overwhelming smell of dragon hit Leander. He didn't know what to expect as he crossed the threshold.

About fifty feet below were two dragons curled protectively around a clutch of eggs. He had never seen anything like it. Seeing eggs protected this way was astonishing.

The female stood on the edge of the cliff and cheerily announced. "The bones of Axezeles have been found. Celebrant has called for mourning to start at midnight."

"It's about time those bones were found, maybe now he will pick another mate," the black and dull red dragon said rudely lifting her head to look up at the herald. Leander recognized her as Emmernoc. She was a moody and bitter dragon. Leander had always thought her coloring had made her mood ugly.

The dryad giggled at the comment, making Leander even more suspicious of the creature.

"Oh, no." the pale green dragon lying next to her sighed. "We will mourn," she said sadly. Leander didn't recognize her.

"Yes, we will mourn – for Celebrant's sake," Emmernoc said arrogantly looking at the green dragon disdainfully.

He wondered whose eggs they were guarding, the colors ranged from black to light pink. Ten was an unusually large number for two dragons. Normal clutches were one to five. Low birth rate was one of the reasons dragons hadn't overpopulated the world.

The dryad left the cavern through another large cave-like opening and Leander followed. The meandering caves lead to another cavern, though smaller than the first. She happily danced her way through the cave.

A dragon roared. The dryad stood stone still.

Leander walked ahead of her to see what was in the cave. A dragon crouched protectively over one egg. Her head craned high toward the opening the dryad had just entered.

"Let me know when you are coming, you idiot," the dragon growled, relaxing its stance. "I am glad you are here, the egg will hatch soon. Possibly today..."

"Ooh," she cooed, then remembered her reason for being there. "Oh yes, I have a message from Celebrant, the bones of Axezeles have been found. He wants everyone mourning by midnight," she said. "Emmernoc is happy she's dead." She whispered, stared at the egg sitting protected between the dragon's front feet.

"The egg might hatch by then but I will mourn, even as I rejoice," the dragon said looking down at the egg, as it rocked again against her foot. "Go tell Celebrant that the egg is hatching."

Leander could hear the tapping from inside the egg now that the cavern had gone silent. He walked into the large cavern and stood on the ledge looking down at the egg.

The dragon looked up at the mesmerized dryad and her eyes narrowed.

"NOW!" she raised her voice at the motionless dryad. "Tell Celebrant and no one else, do you hear me?"

Leander jumped at the sudden outburst.

"Oh! Yes, sorry," the dryad also jumped and quickly ran back the way she had just come.

"Idiot," the dragon muttered. "Emmernoc is an idiot too."

Leander knew he was viewing a very special event and he couldn't make himself leave. The dryad was returning to the main hall, she was no help she wasn't a conspirator. Emmernoc might be a problem though.

He had never witnessed a hatching before. It was a rare occasion. The fact that the egg was blue and isolated by itself led Leander to conjecture that someone thought it could be a frost dragon. If someone was killing frost dragons then this was the place he needed to be.

The dragon continued to crouch protectively over the egg as it continued to rock. Now Leander could hear tiny sounds of cracking, the sound though strange to his ears was somewhat familiar.

"Hurry!" the dragon muttered as she looked toward the entrance where he stood.

I'd better find a more isolated spot, he though. If there will be many coming to see the hatching someone could bump into him. He looked around and saw a shallow niche ten feet away and about three feet from the cave floor. He hopped up into the niche and felt reasonably safe that no one would bump into him. He looked around to see if he had an escape from his spot and felt assured that he could slip out of his hiding spot easily by either climbing up a few feet or jumping down and over a boulder.


	29. Other Secrets Revealed

Other Secrets Revealed

Based on characters from Fablehaven© by Brandon Mull. The original characters and plot details are my property. No copyright infringement intended.

Seth could follow Unleea's telltale shadow movements as they made their way across the room. Her tutelage on remaining cloaked in a crowded situation made him feel more at ease as they listened to muttered conversations.

Unleea's thought pulled him into a corner alcove.

"That one is suspicious." Her shadow pointed toward a little man who just leaving the hall. "There is a clouding in his mind," she whispered.

"You will have to teach me that one too!" he whispered.

"Of course," she whispered, her mental smile was very wide. "We need to follow him?" she asked.

"Yes, let's see what he has to say for himself," Seth replied quietly and they left the alcove in stealthy pursuit.

Unleea pushed again at the man's mind as they followed his slow shuffling gait down the hallway. She heard nothing of the man's own mind.

"His mind is well controlled by someone other than himself," she whispered.

Seth listened also and agreed with her.

"Let's get him alone somewhere and have a talk with him and whoever is in his mind," he suggested.

They followed him around the corner and down an empty hallway. Unleea made her way around in front of the man. She gestured toward a doorway. Seth shrugged unsure of what she was suggesting. Unleea sighed, walked back behind the man. She reached up with her small hands and pressed against the man's neck as he walked. After a few steps, he staggered and she pushed the man into the room.

Unleea pushed him into a chair and held his head in her hands.

"I can't get him to talk. Shadowmaster, you can do it. You can get him to talk," she said when she dropped her hands from his head. The man sat in the chair unconscious, his eyes closed and his mouth agape.

Seth cleared his mind and pushed into the mind of the unconscious man sitting in front of him. He felt another mind there also, one that was conscious elsewhere. Possibly a narcoblix like Vanessa.

"_Speak the truth, why are you here?" _he pushed and commanded, a pain flared in his head as he commanded. The pain started in the front of his forehead and wrapped around the back of his head. Tears formed in his eyes, as he listened to the voice coming from the little man.

The man sat up. Although his eyes were still closed and drool was dripping from his mouth he began to speak.

"We thought we would be hearing of the death of the little fairy dragon. He was getting too reliable. He impressed his father with his stealth and invisibility. He was dangerous to us because of it. He was getting close to his father and we knew that Celebrant was suspicious of us. His father would eventually use him to spy on us. He could sneak in and find out our secrets.

"We knew of his dislike for his avatar so we set the greedy young shadow charmer the task to find the scroll. We knew that if the spell was read over him while he was imbued with fairy magic that it would kill him. Not immediately but soon enough.

"When our spies heard that he left the building we were very happy. We presumed he had wandered off to die. Since he wasn't found we thought maybe he had died in a cave or drowned.

"Then we heard that he may have used his invisibility. If he used his invisibility he would become visible when he took his last breath. Predators on a preserve would destroy the evidence promptly after it appeared. The longer he was missing the longer Celebrant would be distracted and leave us alone to finish our work.

"We thought maybe the call was for mourning the little dragon, not his mother."

"What is your work?" Seth asked seething with anger and pain he pushed hard against the narcoblix's mind. Pain ramped up in his brain also.

"Arrhh…." The little man drooled, the blix was unable to finish. The man's body twitched and fell limp in the chair again.

Seth felt used. He was so angry at the foul way that he was used he remembered the revenants abilities and used them. He put a shadow of fear on the narcoblix's mind and released the link, the pain subsided slowly.

Let someone take care of him or not, he won't be making plans to do evil again,he thought.

"This man may be innocent but I can't help him," he said rubbing his temples. He left the little man sitting in his chair.

"Now what?" he asked Unleea gruffly, still angry. Tears welled in his eyes from the anger and pain of the link. He rubbed the back of his neck where the pain seemed to want to remain.

Unleea looked at Seth; tears in his bloodshot eyes. He was agitated and his face was red with anger. Never before had she heard of anyone linking with a blix much less leaving a shadow in its mind through the link. He was a terrifyingly strong Shadowmaster. She was afraid but proud to be his servant.

Seth looked at Unleea when she didn't answer. Her fear of him was evident in her gaze. She looked at him as if he was a dangerous being. He felt badly that she was scared of him.

"Well I guess we go back to the main hall. We aren't going to find out anything else now," she said in a little voice.

"No I suppose not," he sighed, dampening his anger because of her fear filled gaze. "Sorry, if I frightened you." He apologized.

"No, I'm not scared… much. I'm just really awed. You are so powerful. You have much more power than I ever heard Kelmar or any Shadowmaster had. I am lucky to have lived until now," she said looking at him will less fear and more admiration in her eyes.

"Hmm," Seth said not knowing if what she was saying was true. He wasn't going to let her description of his deeds go to his head. He couldn't be cocky. This was a dangerous road he was on and he needed to take it slow.

"Let's go," he said, and stealthily led the way out the door.

Leander waited. He and the dragon listened for the noise of someone, anyone heading their way. So far the only noises were the soft sounds coming from the egg, the drip of water in the distance and the dragon's breathing.

Leander knew that these dragons had not gotten to the cavern the way he and the dryad had come. They couldn't go down that narrow and steep staircase. He wondered if Celebrant would come soon.

Noises were reaching them now, someone was running. Leander held his breath listening and the dragon covered the egg with her body. A growl lingered deep in her throat as she waited for the intruder.

"It's me Ligar," she called from the walkway. "I told him." The dryad burst into the cavern. "He's coming and he is bringing the fairy prince with him," she said with awe and excitement.

"What? What is he doing here?" the dragon asked confused.

"I think he is the one that told him about Axezeles bones," she loudly whispered. "He is walking with him, the long way around, which will take them a few more minutes."

Leander realized that Celebrant was coming as a dragon to view the hatching. Why Bracken was accompanying him, he didn't know. He would have to wait to find out.

A loud crack came from the egg and the dragon pulled away from her protective hover to view the progress of the hatching.

"Almost here, little one," she cooed. "I wish they would hurry."

Then almost on cue the noise of someone walking through the cave became noticeable. Leander heard the tap of claws on stone and the click of heels. He also heard Bracken's voice but couldn't understand what he was saying. They were getting close.

"I need to leave now. I hope you get your wish," the dryad said cordially. She scrambled down the cliff, over a large boulder and disappeared through an entrance on the far side of the cave, one Leander had not seen earlier.

"We cannot know for sure until it hatches," Celebrant said, his voice echoed. They were very close now.

"I heard that you can tell early now instead of waiting until they mature," Bracken replied.

"Yes, we have learned much in the last five hundred years," Celebrant said solemnly.

"Zeltreth, it's me Celebrant," he called from the cave as they neared the cavern entrance.

"Come quickly, he is almost broken free," she called in return.

The rustling of dragon claws, human footfalls and swishing scales drowned out the sound of cracking eggshell as Celebrant and Bracken quickly entered the cavern.

Something about the sound of the cracking egg was familiar to Leander but he wasn't sure. Maybe he was remembering Raxtus' hatching. He shrugged it off; too much was happening all at once.

Celebrant stepped down to where Zeltreth was and watched as the egg rocked and cracked. Bracken stood on the cliff edge watching. Leander hopped down from his hiding spot and walked to stand next to Bracken.

"I'm here," he whispered as quietly as he could but did not get too close to his ear, he didn't want to startle him. Bracken would hear him or not.

"Hmm," Bracken acknowledged the whisper.

"No one has tried to enter," he whispered closer to Bracken's ear. "I thought I had a lead but it led me here."

"Huh," he huffed in reply. It was interesting that of all places, Leander would follow someone here.

A loud crack stopped the whispered conversation. They watched the eggshell fall away as the baby dragon pushed its head through the shell.

Leander thought that Shiara would like this baby dragon. It was a bright blue color.

Bracken walked closer to the edge of the cliff and watched as the baby dragon stretched and pushed again and the shell fell away. The dragonet lay on the cavern floor exhausted from its labors.

"He is a fine looking dragonet," Bracken stated smiling.

"Come and listen. I will show you what we have found out," Celebrant invited him, looked away from the hatchling up at Bracken with a dragon grin on his face.

Celebrant was more forthcoming than Leander thought he would have been. It was amazing to him that his father would share dragon information with Bracken, fairy prince or not. Leander was interested in what they had learned in over five hundred years of study so he carefully followed Bracken down the cliff.

"If we are here when they hatch we can observe some very indicative information. See how he is breathing? Is it warm or cool in here to him? He will react to the surrounding temperature and let us know. It is cool in here, the floor is cold and yet he seems comfortable. If he wasn't he would be shivering. He is definitely on the cool side. Now let's try something."

"You won't hurt him?" Zeltreth asked, trusting but still concerned.

"No, this will not hurt him. We will leave you two alone to rest shortly," Celebrant said compassionately.

Concern and compassion weren't feelings Leander expected from any dragon much less his father. Their reaction to the hatchling shocked and confused him.

"Let me have that piece of glass I had you pick up," he asked Bracken.

Bracken pulled a round disc of glass from a pocket and held it out for him to grasp with the claws on his front foot.

Celebrant held it in front of his own nose and breathed on it, his heated breath caused it to fog up. He then placed it in front of the dragonet's nose. The hatchling opened its eyes at the smell of dragon breath so close to him and he let out a breath of his own. The glass fogged up. When Celebrant lowered his head to the glass his eyes flashed in surprise, because a fine crystalline icing of frost covered the glass.

"What does it mean?" the she dragon asked.

"He is an ice dragon and that is very good. He will rest comfortably here in the cool caverns," Celebrant lied. "We will leave you to rest now."

Bracken climbed back up the cliff wall followed closely by Leander. Celebrant just stepped up to the cliff top. They left the cavern in silence and Leander followed them. They did not speak of the hatching all the way to the main hall. Leander's curiosity to know what it all meant was itching like the stitches in his scalp.

When they reached the main hall, Celebrant invoked his avatar and reentered the room they had used earlier. Kendra was still there, she rushed to Bracken's side when he entered.

"Well? How's the baby?" she asked concerned at their worried looks.

At that moment, Seth and Unleea chose to appear.

"What's this about a baby?" Unleea asked curiously.

"A baby dragon just hatched in the caves below," Bracken stated. "We went to the lower nursery and checked out the hatchling. The dragonet is an ice dragon, very possibly a frost dragon. This is good news but we need to keep it to ourselves."

Both Leander and Kendra gasped at the same time fortunately for Leander because he'd forgotten to rein in his volume.

"Infant Ice dragons usually freeze the moisture on the glass into a solid even ice coating. He frosted it, the flowing ice crystals were obvious and so I am hopeful," Celebrant said optimistically. "This may be the first one in over two hundred years. I will watch his progress and if confirmed, he will have to go into hiding for a while. At least until we find the conspirators and thanks to you we know there are conspirators," he said to the group.

"Did you find out anything?" Celebrant asked Seth pointedly.

"No," Leander whispered into Seth's ear.

"No, we followed a few but it didn't lead us to anyone," Seth said disappointed that Leander found nothing also.

"That is too bad. I will have my own investigators keep an ear out for information," Celebrant said, sad again. "How is that young man doing in his search for Raxtus?" he asked curiously.

Leander noted that Celebrant's attitude was very different from when they first arrived and more open than Leander thought he would be. This was not a side of Raxtus' father he had seen before.

"As well as can be expected. He has been looking for a dragon that may be invisible. Raxtus went somewhere. He might have gone back to sleep in a cave somewhere. You never told me how long he was supposed to rest," Bracken answered him.

"I know I didn't," he admitted sourly. "That is because I don't know. You used the old term in the scroll, what we used before humans came up with the word hibernation. It can last months or years. I didn't want to upset you before you cast the spell. I was very troubled when you told me he had disappeared. I thought that he would have stayed in one place the entire time," he said shaking his head. He was letting down his guard a little, showing that he did care about Raxtus if not because he was his son, at least because he was a fellow dragon.


	30. Midnight Shriek

Midnight Shriek

Based on characters from Fablehaven© by Brandon Mull. The original characters and plot details are my property. No copyright infringement intended.

There was a shrill screech that caused everyone to cover their ears. It lasted for what seemed like minutes. Leander thought it had to be midnight.

"So that's why you laughed at the midnight screech? There is no way we could miss that," Seth grimaced, his headache wasn't going away and this just added to the pain.

"No one could miss that scream," Bracken stated with concerned. "How long has that been going on?"

"Ever since Agad left... something here in the keep is upset or happy. I'm not sure which but other than the midnight shrieks everything is calm," Celebrant said openly.

The mourning had started for Axezeles. Everywhere in Wyrmroost dragons and others were mourning for Celebrant's lost mate. By morning light every dragon, even those in the other dragon sanctuaries, would know Celebrant had finally confirmed her death.

"I have a confession," Bracken sighed now that their hoax had been successful. "We have lied to you but we did it for a good reason. We needed the conspirators to think they have succeeded in part of their plan. We knew there were probably empaths around and we couldn't take a chance on them being confused as to your true feelings."

"What did you lie about?" Celebrant looked at the four of them curiously. Empaths? Why would they be of concern? He wasn't angry – yet.

Bracken looked at Kendra and nodded. She smiled at him then she turned and smiled at Celebrant.

Unleea stood next to Kendra and smiled at them both, she wanted to hear the story again too.

"Axezeles is alive and well in Fablehaven," she declared happily.

Again Celebrant staggered to a seat.

No, he wasn't angry but he was definitely confused – she was alive? He stared at the girl as she told him their story. He was trying hard to listen but his mind was processing the idea that _she_ was _alive_.

Yes, empaths would have known he was faking if he had known the truth. He would have to guard his reactions when he left this room but he was grateful he was hearing the amazing news.

Seth pulled Bracken to the far corner while Kendra talked to Celebrant about how they found Axezeles.

"Bracken, can I get a little healing?" Seth asked softly. "We ran into a situation, nothing to do with our original search. It's important information though."

"Sure," he said and put his hands on Seth's shoulders.

Seth immediately felt better, the ache in his head subsided. "Thanks!" he breathed with relief and began to talk. "Unleea and I found out about an attempt to kill Raxtus. They set me up. The whole trip to New Mexico was a ruse to get the avatar spell in front of Raxtus. No wonder there was so much dragon magic there," he said shaking his head in anger.

"Kill Raxtus – how? Why?" Bracken asked softly, confused and upset.

"Whoever these people are they didn't want Raxtus to be able to spy on them. They felt Celebrant was suspicious of them. They were afraid that he would have Raxtus spy on them using his invisibility. They weren't worried about what kind of dragon he was. They knew he would be dead before he could invoke a new avatar. The avatar spell was supposed to kill him," Seth quickly told Bracken.

"What? How was I supposed to die from the spell?" Leander's incredulous whisper came in loud and clear.

Seth ground his teeth. "Crap! You weren't supposed to hear this." That was the trouble with invisible people; you didn't know where they were.

"Too late. Do you know how?" Leander whispered.

"Yah! I do," Seth admitted.

"Can we talk about this later?" Bracken interrupted, he couldn't hear Leander but assumed he was talking to Seth. "We need to deal with Celebrant and Axezeles at the moment."

"What I was going to say is that these guys I found aren't the ones responsible for her accident or the murder of your siblings," Seth continued. "We still haven't found the conspirators."

"Aughh," Leander uttered a frustrated and angry growl. He understood. He wasn't really in any position to ask for more information now.

Kendra, Celebrant and Unleea looked up at the two talking in the corner; Leander's growl had echoed in the room.

"Sorry," Seth apologized to them for the noise. "Watch it," he whispered under his breath.

Leander was upset and didn't trust himself to moderate his reply, so he was silent.

Bracken and Seth walked back to stand close to Kendra as she finished the story.

"Where is she now?" Celebrant asked anxious, excited and still a bit confused and concerned about the removal of her heart scale.

"She is with the Caretakers in the main house, she is in good health. They have no idea who she is. She invoked her avatar and is learning about the new world around her. She wants to see you but knows that it might be dangerous," Kendra told him.

"I want to see her too but we need to make sure everyone is safe. Your tracker still hasn't found any sign of Raxtus?" Celebrant asked sadly, concerned.

"He found one of Raxtus' scales in one of the swamps, it seems he fell asleep there and may have been driven away or left on his own but he has only been searching for a few days," Bracken told him. "He did find her though, looking for one he found another. That has been sort of a distraction in itself. He got back to work immediately after we got her safely to the main house.

"We haven't given up on Raxtus, we will find him," Bracken said establishing Leander's lead role in her discovery and continued diligence.

"Now that we have you informed about her. We need to get back to Fablehaven and help him out if we can. You need to find those responsible for trying to kill her and who killed Raxtus' nest mates. My best guess is either wizards or demons but you never know what some dragons will do if they feel threatened," Bracken told him. "Seth, you heard nothing of interest out there?" Bracken asked him to confirm to Celebrant what he told him.

"Nothing concerning her – sorry. It was a long shot anyway," Seth replied apologetically. "If demons were responsible back then we won't find anything here will we? Those responsible may even be dead or locked up in Zzyzx now, so much has happened. But word will spread and there may be more information later.

"We did find a dwarf controlled by a narcoblix. I need to confirm what he was up to, but I don't know his physical location. I put a shadow in his mind and he will sleep for a while. If someone finds an unconscious blix let us know who he is. Maybe he will lead us to other's that might be important," Seth said.

Celebrant nodded his head confirming he understood the information.

"Are we going to spend the night or go home?" Kendra asked Bracken as she wearily sat down.

"Let's stay the rest of the night. We can leave in the morning." He smiled at her obvious tactic.

"I have rooms for you," Celebrant offered courteously.

"Thanks, I'm pretty tired," Kendra yawned.

"Me too," Unleea rubbed her eyes, sat next to Kendra and snuggled sleepily against her. Kendra put her arm around the little girl.

Celebrant continued to be a cordial host and personally took them to their rooms on the second floor of the Keep. One room for Kendra and Unleea but Seth and Bracken got individual rooms.

Fortunately for Leander, Seth's room was set up with three beds.

"Ok, spill it," he whispered to Seth.

"Can't! Bracken isn't here – we could be overheard. Try again in the morning or on the way home," Seth whispered back smugly as he crawled under the covers. He yawned and closed his eyes. He really didn't want to tell Leander anything until he had talked to Bracken about it first.

Ugh! Leander thought frustrated.

He felt his stomach grumble with hunger but couldn't hear it. He raided Seth's pack for food. As he wrapped his hand around a granola bar it disappeared, he could feel it but he couldn't see it. He opened his hand and the bar reappeared and fell from his hand. He picked it up again with just his fingers and it seemed to float in midair. If his hand didn't wrap all the way around it was still there but as soon as his fingers touched his palm whatever was in his hand was gone too. This was the first time he had eaten when he was invisible. He was amazed at the effect, but he absolutely didn't understand how it was happening.

He wondered if it was a new ability, a part of his new avatar's skills or something he had never noticed before now. When invisible in his dragon form, things didn't disappear when he grasped them. But as a human his clothes disappeared when he did, maybe he emitted a cloaking field around himself. He felt kind of alien and science fictiony, this wasn't 'normal' but it was so cool. His whole body churned with his excitement at his new seemingly magical/non-magical skill.

He held the food between his fingers so he would see it then tried it invisible, he finally got the hang of eating invisible food. He watched in the mirror and had to stop himself from laughing, as the food disappeared into his mouth. He finally worked out how to eat something and keep it invisible the entire time.

He ate until he felt his stomach wasn't going to grumble all night long.

He curled up on top of the covers of the bed next to Seth who was now snoring lightly. He fell asleep quicker than he thought possible being as excited as he was; strangely comforted by the familiar smell of dragon sulfur.

The next morning Celebrant joined them for breakfast in his human form, he was unusually quiet as they ate a wonderfully prepared meal.

If anyone had been watching Seth carefully he seemed to be eating twice as much as anyone else. Half of the food he was taking disappeared mysteriously before it reached his plate.

"Hey! Leave me some," Seth whispered a complaint when the fourth consecutive piece of bacon disappeared. A short whispered laugh hit his ear but the next piece of bacon made it to his plate and so did the next. He didn't know how Leander was doing it but it was a neat trick and also irritating.

Leander was enjoying their sleight of hand tricks almost as much as he was enjoying the breakfast feast. The food became invisible as he wrapped his hand around it, an amazing sight to see if you were looking. He still didn't feel anything different or magical about himself. He sat down on a bench against the wall and ate the food he had taken from Seth. The courage potion he had taken earlier made his empty stomach feel funny and the food was making him feel better. He listened to the conversation as his stomach somewhat soothed with the food.

"No one has come forward with news of an unconscious person," Celebrant told them. "The blix's companions may have found him already but if anyone else sees them I should hear about it.

"I'm coming to Fablehaven," he announced. "I have to see her and I can help her acclimate to this world better than anyone." His words seemed serious and subdued but there was an anxious excitement to his demeanor.

Great! Leander thought unhappily, now they will both be there.

"Um, okay, when?" Kendra said and looked at Bracken. She thought he looked like he expected the announcement.

Bracken nodded not at all surprised by his statement.

"I will come at the end of the week. I'll need to set up a story to explain my absence but I also want to start the investigation here. There are a few that I trust implicitly that will also be interested in the outcome of such an investigation," he explained.

"I don't trust anyone here except you," Kendra said to him while staring at her plate.

"I think I can trust Axezeles' mother to organize a search for her daughter's killer," Celebrant replied smoothly.

"Oh… well, I guess that would be true," she said and, looked up at him smiling.

"The helicopter will be in the forest in an hour. We need to leave shortly," Bracken said as he pushed back his chair and stood up. "I apologize again for the deception."

"Thank you for the entire series of events," Celebrant said happily. "I couldn't have asked for a more interesting night or more wonderful news. The sorrow made the happiness sweeter."

Leander was silent during the helicopter ride to the airport. Seth kept looking around wondering where he was. He had let them know he had gotten on board but he hadn't spoken since. Sitting on the floor near Kendra and Unleea, Leander brooded, though anyone else would have called it pouting.

He was surprised and yet unsurprised that his father never told Raxtus that he had a living grandmother. He wondered if she even knew about Raxtus or knowing about him had never wanted to meet him. Oh well, he sighed, just one more reason to stay human.


	31. Flying Home

Flying Home

Based on characters from Fablehaven© by Brandon Mull. The original characters and plot details are my property. No copyright infringement intended.

Unleea was frightened of the helicopter since she hadn't experienced the previous helicopter ride. She had been unaware during her shade-share with Seth on the trip in. Kendra held the little girl in her lap as she shivered and hid her face. She did better on the airplane but clung tightly to Seth's hand.

Leander reappeared at the airport for the airplane ride back to Connecticut. Unleea was unaware that he had followed them and they didn't want her to know he had. So as on the flight out he didn't sit with his friends on the plane.

He again boarded the plane in disguise. He tucked all of his hair under a brown knit cap so no one could see the color of his hair and wore sunglasses to hide his pale blue eyes.

On the plane ride home everyone was quiet for the first hours, lost in thoughts of what was going to happen when they got home. Unleea's overt nervousness finally got to Seth and he begged Kendra to do something. Kendra held the girl in her lap and finally rocked her to sleep.

Leander kept an eye on his friends. He saw Kendra move to the seat next to Seth and watched as Unleea gradually fell asleep in her arms. Finally he couldn't stand it anymore. He got up and moved to Kendra's empty seat next to Bracken.

"Ok, tell me what you found out!" he said in an agitated whisper. He looked seriously at Bracken and then across the aisle at Seth.

"Not now," Bracken shook his head looking at the upset young man.

"Now, please!" Leander insisted his face showing his frustration and troubled emotions.

Bracken sighed. He knew his linked shield would muffle their conversation if Seth moved closer. Bracken reluctantly signaled Seth to come over. He pushed up the armrest and Seth sat cross-legged on the floor between them, his elbows resting on the seat corners.

"Don't break the link and we can talk," Bracken told them and he looked down at his hand. They also looked at his hand resting on the seat as it moved slightly so he touched Seth's right arm and Seth's left elbow moved a fraction of an inch to touch Leander's right knee.

"Now tell me what you found out," Leander repeated plaintively for Seth's benefit.

Bracken nodded.

Seth told Leander about the interrogation of the narcoblix controlled little man and how Raxtus was supposed to have died.

"But… why didn't I die?" he looked at them confused.

"_Um... _because Kendra and I removed the fairy magic before I read the other incantation," Bracken confessed.

"Why?" Leander asked inquisitively.

"Because I knew you would not be normal if you continued to be the fairy dragon." _Uhm…_ he cleared his throat and told Leander his reason. "You wanted to be normal more than anything but you were afraid of it too. It would have been a waste of the spell. I knew you needed to have a chance to be a real dragon and you couldn't do it if you had fairy magic filling the places where dragon magic was supposed to be.

"But I don't know why you haven't gotten your dragon magic yet," Bracken said with confusion.

Leander was speechless. They had done that for him and unknowingly saved his life. He felt fortunate that he had friends like Bracken, Seth and Kendra.

"I'm sorry we didn't tell you before now. You seemed to be doing okay thinking that the spell took the fairy magic away, and since you could invoke both of your forms and turn invisible I thought it would be just a matter of time before your dragon magic would show up," he apologized.

"But no one knows that you cast that spell?" he asked for clarification.

"No, just us and mother of course, and..._umm_," Bracken confessed again. "I did tell her about you," he winced saying the words not knowing if Leander would be angry with him for telling her. "She knows you are Leander."

"Oh okay! Yeah it's okay if she knows. She has always been there for me," he said to ease Bracken's tension. He thought for another moment. "But the blix and his friends who wanted Raxtus dead think he was killed by the spell... right? Then everyone who hears Seth's story will think the same, so just the five of us know it's not true."

"Yes, I suppose that is true but…" Bracken said uncertainly.

"No, I want Seth to tell them what he heard," he said excited, interrupting Brackens thought. "Oh, you should have told Celebrant that would have been great! I could have seen the relief on his face when he heard that the bane of his existence was gone," he laughed, though the pained expression on his face was at odds with his words and laughter.

"Then I don't think that you would have been happy with his reaction," Bracken told him seriously. "I think he truly cares about you. He will be sad to hear such news."

"Yeah, right!" he said sarcastically, rolling his eyes. Leander felt suddenly free when he heard that his dragon counterpart was supposed to be dead. The relief was apparent on his face as the thought went through his mind.

"And what about your mother?" Seth asked not totally understanding Leander's bitter feelings toward his father.

"What about her?" he retorted.

"How is she going to feel knowing _all_ of her children are dead?" Seth said rudely, thinking that Leander was being callous.

"About the same as my father, she never met me but she will hear stories. Raxtus was a freak and a disappointment. She will probably think it was for the best that he died. Dragons aren't known for tolerance," he explained to both Bracken and Seth. Leander thought Seth was trying to be sensitive to her feelings as if she were a human. He knew she wouldn't feel that way – she was a dragon and they didn't have the same emotions when it came to offspring. She cried for unhatched eggs – yes, missing offspring – yes, deformed and contaminated adult offspring – no. He knew it was true though Celebrant's apparent compassionate concern yesterday was confusing to him.

"Sir, you must return to your seat. We are preparing to land," the flight attendant said. She touched Leander's arm and looked down at Seth. She waved him up from the floor.

"Oh, sorry," Leander said and got up.

Seth looked up and noticed Kendra. She made a face at him. Unleea was sitting in her seat and Kendra was occupying Seth's.

"Who is that with your brother?" Unleea asked sleepily, not recognizing Leander in the hat and sunglasses.

"I'm not sure," she grimaced, as Seth sat in her seat next to Bracken.

Leander went forward to his seat. He had lots to think about, he was supposed to be dead and yet he wasn't. Raxtus, the dragon, could not show his shiny silver face without someone questioning his appearance and possibly coming after him again.

Just after they landed, Leander slid between two advertisements and disappeared. After a confirming whisper to Kendra that he was with them, he hopped into the bed of Seth's truck. He enjoyed the two hour trip, the wind in his face felt almost like flying.

"Do you think he is okay?" Seth asked Bracken quietly. "I didn't expect him to take the news like that or think of his parents that way."

"Don't worry about him. It would take anyone a while to process information like that. We just need to make sure he doesn't do anything permanent yet," Bracken said calmly, thinking about Leander's earlier statement of renouncing his dragon form. This definitely would make it easier for him to make the decision to take that permanent step.

When they arrived back in Fablehaven, it was almost supper time. Leander followed them into the house, ran up the stairs and became visible in Seth's room. He pulled off the knit cap and sunglasses, fluffed his now flattened hair, changed into a crumpled shirt and went to greet the returning group. He watched the exchanging of hugs as he slowly walked down the stairs as if he had been there all the time.

Maeve hugged Unleea affectionately, listening attentively to her animated story about the frightening helicopter ride.

"Hello," he said.

"Oh, I didn't know you had come back," Ruth said surprised to see him on the stairs.

"I got back right after lunch but I didn't want to disturb anyone so I took a nap, staying out in this forest isn't very restful," he lied with a smile. His rumpled clothes and messy hair looked like he had been camping out all week. Everyone looked at him expectantly and the room went silent. "I haven't found anything new," he shook his head and shrugged.

"Well, we did," Seth said with a frown staring bleakly at Leander.

"What?" he asked encouraging Seth's story.

Surrounded by his family and still in his mother's embrace, all eyes went to Seth.

"I think we need a meeting for this news," Bracken broke into the conversation. "Is everyone here?" Bracken asked.

"Just about. Supper is almost ready but Dale is still in the barn," Marla said, with worry in her voice. She didn't like Seth's tone or look as she glanced up at her son's face.

Everyone was nervous at Bracken's request for a meeting.

"I'll go get him," Leander offered helpfully.

"No, you stay here. I'll get him," Stan said looking with concern at the serious group before he walked away.

"In here," Ruth invited them to the living room. She opened the double doors and everyone filed in quietly.

Kendra pulled Bracken to the loveseat and they sat together. Seth sat in the chair next to the big desk since he was going to be the main speaker. Leander leaned against the wall near the door until Ruth pushed him into an overstuffed chair next to the one where Maeve was sitting. He tried to move but Ruth gave him a stern stare and he sat uncomfortably staring at Seth. The room remained silent.

Stan and Dale arrived a few minutes later.

"Ok, who is going to start?" Stan asked as he sat in the chair behind the big desk.

Seth looked at Bracken, not wanting to be the one to start off.

"I guess I will. Celebrant was upset…"

Bracken told them of the visit to Wyrmroost and their 'cover story' of their attempt to find out if anyone knew why Axezeles would have died at Fablehaven before it was sanctuary.

"Celebrant wants to come here and try to find out more about where she was. He ah…" Bracken stuttered. He was having a hard time twisting the story so he wouldn't let them know Maeve was Axezeles.

"Don't go on." Maeve stopped him, shaking her head. "This is getting much too complicated for no good reason. I trust these people now, Bracken."

"I am Axezeles," she announced. "I was almost killed by Navarog and they are trying to find out who was behind it."

Fifteen minutes, many discussions and questions later, everyone had moved around and Leander had escaped his overstuffed chair next to Maeve. He prodded Seth to continue with his news.

Seth cleared his throat and broke into the excited conversation. "I have other news to add. It's not very pleasant."

Suddenly the room became silent again. He proceeded to tell them of his and Unleea's conversation with the little man and the narcoblix.

Gasps of 'No' broke out in the room as he told them the spell killed Raxtus because fairy magic permeated him.

"They used me to get the spell in front of Raxtus," Seth said, the tears running down his face were real, he still felt vilely used. Their plan to kill Raxtus hadn't worked but it very well could have if Bracken hadn't been involved.

Maeve, tears running down her face, sat silent in her chair. This was the first time she had heard the extent of Raxtus' contamination with fairy magic. Unleea crawled up into her lap and hugged her tightly.

Kendra watched the woman deal with her grief. Her tears flowed also but she was mad at Leander for putting his mother through this. It was his choice, he didn't have to let anyone know he was alive if he didn't want to but she didn't have to like it.

As a group, they made the decision to send the news to Celebrant the next morning. Bad news, good news, and then bad news again, Celebrant probably wouldn't want anymore news from Fablehaven after this.

Leander was not as happy as he thought he would be when everyone knew Raxtus was dead. It was sad. Raxtus was a nice dragon. Almost everyone there knew him and either liked or loved him. The news affected everyone in the room including Leander, the tracker. He no longer had a reason for being there. If Raxtus was dead, he didn't have anyone to track. He didn't have a job, oops.

Dinner was solemn but Leander ate like always, as if he was starving.


	32. Changing Attitudes

Changing Attitudes

Based on characters from Fablehaven© by Brandon Mull. The original characters and plot details are my property. No copyright infringement intended.

After dinner, the four made their way to Seth's attic room. They all were sitting at the table. Even Seth, who usually flopped on his bed, pulled out a chair and sat as if they were having a meeting or getting ready to discuss a mission. They all sat silently staring at the tabletop.

Leander was thinking about everything that had happened and all they had learned.

Each of them had similar thoughts.

They hadn't found the conspirators but they were hoping they would soon know the identity of the narcoblix so they could start their search there. The rest of the family now knew that Maeve was Axezeles and that Celebrant was coming to see her at the end of the week.

Bracken and Kendra were thinking that there was probably a rare Frost dragon growing up safely in the caverns below Blackwell Keep. Celebrant's dire prediction of the state of sanctuary security and stability and his opinion of wizard intelligence was laying heavy on Bracken's mind.

Mostly they were sad. The most significant news was that Raxtus was dead, supposed to be anyway. The fact that he was sitting with them in his new avatar form did little to mitigate the feeling that he very well could have died.

Kendra had gotten over being mad at Leander for letting his mother think he was dead when Maeve suddenly dried her tears and remarked that it was probably for the best that he was out of his misery. Leander had whispered 'I told you so' a few minutes later on their way to the dinner table.

"Can you make me a fairy friend?" Leander suddenly asked Bracken and Kendra.

"What?" Kendra blurted out, startled out of her own thoughts by his sudden unexpected question.

"Huh?" Seth laughed.

"You wanted to be a real dragon with dragon magic and powers. Isn't being a fairy friend the opposite of what you wanted?" Bracken asked surprised at the request.

"It was at first but now I'm a normal human. I don't' want the magic back, I just want to be a fairy friend. I don't want to go back to being the runt dragon – the jester son of the king of dragons.

"I want to remain like this, normal. I don't want anyone finding out that I was a dragon. If I'm a fairy friend no one will ever think I am a dragon, not even the fairy dragon. The spell would have killed me if you hadn't removed the fairy magic first.

"Raxtus is dead, let's leave it that way," he explained.

"Leander, are you sure?" Kendra asked. Her heart was breaking thinking how close they had come to killing him.

"Yes, I am enjoying being normal and I don't want to worry about it anymore. I know I'll have other things to worry about but at least I can put that part behind me. I've made up my mind. I'm giving up my dragon form permanently," he said with a confirming nod.

"But…I'll miss you as a dragon. I like to fly with you," Kendra whined.

"We can all mourn him together. I think I was really born to be human after all. I am too comfortable like this," he said to reassure her.

"What about your dragon magic?" Bracken asked him.

"What dragon magic? I haven't felt any magic at all. I'm unsure how I become invisible," he answered frankly and a little exasperated. "Maybe invoking my dragon form is just part of what I am and not magic. Even if I was supposed to be a Frost dragon I have no magic so I don't have to worry about that and if I give up my dragon form I'll have even less worry." he said with a shrug.

"Even if invoking your avatar is just part of what you are. You know that you aren't completely human. You will still have dragon traits even if you give up your dragon form. Specifically you won't age like humans do. After a while people will notice so you can't stay in one place too long, unless it's a sanctuary such as Fablehaven but the Caretakers also think you are human," Bracken told him in case he didn't realize the extent of the commitment. His statement should be true but he wondered if it were true.

He was still concerned about how human Leander was. He should neither need milk to see magical creatures nor should he need a potion to protect him from dragonfear but he did. He should have had enough strength to kill or incapacitate the swamp troll and been able to run for hours without tiring but he seemed to have only human strength and stamina. And nothing, neither fairy magic nor dragon magic explained his ability to become invisible. What other disparities were there? He and Kendra would have to keep an eye on him for a while to see how he was handling the consequences of the spell. His lack of dragon magic was very disturbing.

"I know. I'm willing to cope. I can stay close to the sanctuary system and maybe Seth and I can come with a reason for my not aging," Leander said accepting the inherent complications.

"Well, sleep on it anyway. You may think of some reason not to do it," Bracken told him. This was one of those permanent things he didn't want Leander to do so they needed to figure out a way to stall him.

"Yah, a reason like eating whoever planned this whole mess!" Seth said harshly, he wanted revenge on whoever had used him to try to kill Raxtus. Killing anyone, even an assassin, wasn't a good thing but a dragon eating some evil creature was different – wasn't it?

"If I do that I am asking for more trouble. Raxtus didn't _want_ to eat Navarog. I'm glad he did now but I have to look for other ways to deal with my problems," Leander said sadly, looking at Seth.

Kendra remembered how she really had to provoke Raxtus into killing the evil demon dragon. Only when Navarog, in his human form, assured Kendra he would destroy and kill Celebrant and take over Wyrmroost was Raxtus angry enough to kill him. Still, she was shocked when he bit him in half and ate him. She knew dragons were carnivores and ate animals and occasionally people but seeing it happen in front of her by such a gentle dragon had been shocking. She didn't want him to do that again, especially when it seemed to be contrary to his wishes also.

"What do you have to do to give up reverting into a dragon?" Seth asked interested in the procedure if there was one.

"That's a dragon secret. I will have to do that in private. The only specially warded place I know large enough is the little barn where we did the spell. I'll go there and when I come out I'll be ready to be a fairy friend," he said smiling, happy with his decision.

"Bracken, you should stay the night. It is already late and you need to be here early for this. Let's talk to Grandma and get a room for you," Kendra said and dragged him up from his chair and pulled him down the stairs. She wanted to talk to him see if there was anything else they could do to get Leander to change his mind.

The next morning, Leander woke up late and a little moody. He couldn't remember his dream but he seemed to remember someone strange and dark chasing him trying to crack open his head. His dreams were still affecting him physically and now it seemed they were influencing him mentally too. This was another difference between dragon and human dreams but so far it wasn't an intolerable change.

He dressed and tried to overcome his bleak mood by putting on a happy face. He was still happy with his decision on remaining human and becoming a fairy friend.

In the kitchen he greeted Marla and Ruth happily. Drank his milk and sat down to enjoy pancakes with his friends. Marla and Ruth sat down at the other end of the table chatting with each other.

Seth, Bracken and Kendra, on the other hand, had other ideas about his happy mood. They kept making cryptic remarks during breakfast that had double meaning trying to get him to change his mind.

He became upset with them for trying to talk him out of his decision. He put away his pretense of being happy and because he felt grumpy already he began to answer rudely.

"No, I think I'm done here. I just have one more thing I want to do today then I will be on my way," he said stubbornly. He tried to act his part of a disappointed tracker in front of Ruth and Marla but they were making it difficult.

"But there is still a chance," Kendra said ambiguously.

"You heard what they said, he is dead. I don't want to search for a dead dragon," he said shaking his head, desperately wanting to end the conversation. "I'm a tracker, what you need is a cadaver dog, not me."

Marla looked down the table at Leander an unhappy look on her face. Ruth looked at Marla first then also stared down the table toward him. Shaken by last night's awful news of Raxtus' fate Ruth and Marla were still troubled.

Seth noticed the look on his mother's face and knew what it meant.

"Boy, you are cruel," Seth whispered, upset that Leander's words had upset his mother.

"Sorry, too much?" Leander whispered back, hearing the resentment in Seth's voice, suddenly repentant of his harsh words.

"Isn't that a bit callous," Bracken replied calmly, knowing they had pushed him too hard and they all needed to back off.

"Sorry, I don't mean to make light of your loss. I'm just… I don't know… I guess I'll be quiet now," he said regretfully to everyone at the table and shoved a forkful of pancake into his mouth.

He was still so inexperienced with his human emotions they overwhelmed him sometimes and he felt foolish when he reacted poorly. He just wanted them to stop trying to talk him out of renouncing Raxtus.

Just when he said it to himself he came to a sudden realization. They didn't want him to renounce Raxtus because then he really would be dead.

"You came to us with a fine reputation, at being very good at your job. I can see where this failure due to nothing on your part would cause you to be upset," Marla said kindly. "Raxtus was our friend and will be missed. It's neither his fault he died nor yours that you couldn't find him. But speaking harshly of him does you no credit," she said concluding in a reproachful tone.

"You are just disappointed that your search was fruitless. Disappointment can make for frustration and frustration leads to harsh words. We understand. You are young and you probably haven't had too many failures," Ruth said appreciatively, accepting his apology.

"I'm sorry for my rudeness. I know how much you liked him. I wouldn't have taken the job except for Bracken's insistence. I _really_ don't like dragons," Leander said trying to find the right words to make amends. "I guess I let my prejudice get the better of my mouth."

"Why do you dislike dragons so much?" Marla asked. Previously unaware that Leander had any prejudices she was suddenly curious.

Kendra, Seth and Bracken all looked up from their breakfast curious how he would answer the question.

"Hmm," Leander had to think for a moment – why?

Why did he dislike dragons?

He started to think of a story to tell but then he realized that _he_ really did dislike dragons. No, he hated dragons. He needed to tell all of them the truth. Obviously his friends didn't know how he really felt.

He took a deep breath and decided to let it all out.

"Truth is – I use to be fascinated with dragons. I desperately wanted to be a big… scary… dragon, ha! Now just thinking about them," he shivered, "they terrify me… on top of their already terrifying dragonfear." He had never experienced dragonfear before he had seen his mother.

"A few years ago one caught me and tortured me for the delight of it, got bored and left me to die but somehow I escaped. Others have tried to kill me and chased me into hiding on many occasions. One threatened to kill my father, destroy my home and everyone I care for. I'm not sure how I survived but I have no doubt it was mostly luck," he said emotionally, the hazy memories of Raxtus' life filling him with sorrow. His eyes unfocused, reliving the horrible events, his face echoed the remembered torture and pain.

Kendra recognized his reference to their mutual experience with Navarog. He was the one who had threatened to enslave Kendra, kill Celebrant and take over Wyrmroost, even though Leander was framing it in a different context. She was shocked as she suddenly realized that he wasn't telling a story as Leander, the tracker, he was speaking truthfully about Raxtus' experiences. Watching his face she realized that he had no lifelong training to hide his emotions, his face reacted distinctly to each thought. The pain and torture he suffered must have been horrible.

"They have no respect for any other creature but their own kind and yet they are even cruel to each other. If I never saw another dragon again it would suit me just fine," he said vehemently. He got close to saying too much but stopped, his lip trembled and tears filled his eyes.

"Sorry," he apologized, sniffed and wiped the tears from his eyes. He pushed his plate out of the way and lowered his head to the table, hiding his face in his crossed arms, embarrassed by his intense emotional reaction.

Everyone sat silently staring at Leander in stunned surprise.

"We didn't know," Ruth said sadly after a moment.

Bracken nodded his head unhappily, understanding for the first time how Leander felt about his treatment by his fellow dragons all these years.


	33. Cutting Ties

Cutting Ties

Based on characters from Fablehaven© by Brandon Mull. The original characters and plot details are my property. No copyright infringement intended.

Now that the tears had started Leander wiped more tears away, thinking about their compassionate attempt to make him a true dragon. His friends, who in spite of his well-known preference, had saved his life. Had they asked him to approve the removal of his fairy magic he would have said no and he would be dead now. He keenly felt the caring way they ignored his stupid insistence to keep the fairy magic and secretly removed it. They knew him very well. He felt very fortunate to have these three wonderful friends.

He felt badly that if he renounced Raxtus – essentially – he was killing their friend – the friend that they loved enough to give _him_ life.

Could he do it now? Now that he knew what he was doing to them? He would have to think about it some more but he didn't think he could. He wiped the tears from his face again and again, as they continued to fall.

"Are you alright?" Marla asked him concerned that his tears were still falling and he still seemed distressed.

"Yea, I'm okay. I'm okay. Sorry… didn't mean to dump all of that on you," he answered with a sigh. He lifted his head to look at her and his tears slowed.

"It's okay, we are friends, and sometimes we just need to let things out. I'm glad you felt comfortable enough to tell us," Ruth said sagely. "Do your parents know you went through that?" she asked. She was concerned that he was too young to have gone through all that, it was sad. She was glad that he wasn't exposed to that situation any longer. She was also wondering where his parents were during all of the abuse.

"No, I was told my mom died when I was a baby and dad wasn't around much. He has though of me as an adult for a few years now," he said. He was getting uncomfortable, so far he had been able to tell something very close to the truth. If she asked more questions… well… he didn't have to answer if he didn't want to.

Seth shook his head as he also realized what Raxtus had been through all his life.

Kendra felt the tears well up in her eyes as she realized they were being selfish. Did they accidentally save him so he could remain a dragon and undergo the torment he had been trying to escape all his life? She sincerely hoped not; her tears began to fall. What was wrong with him enjoying being a human?

"Kendra, are you ok?" Marla asked noticing the tears beginning to spill down Kendra's face.

"Well, it's just that Raxtus said that other dragons had bullied and tortured him also. Now he's gone. Leander has become our friend and now he has to leave too," she suddenly burst into broken-hearted sobs.

"Leander doesn't have to leave. He can stay if he wishes," Ruth said soothingly to Kendra. Looking up at Leander, she reaffirmed the offer with a nod. He needed a home if his father didn't take care of him. She felt he was still too young to be living on his own.

Bracken held her and her mother patted her hand as she let the tears flow down her face. Seth sat there stoically staring at his almost empty plate.

Where am I going? Leander thought. I have no home as a human. Maybe Bracken will help me find something, though I would really like to stay here. Ruth did offer the option.

A few minutes later Kendra dried her tears. She was only slightly hiccupping as she pushed her food around her plate. Marla and Ruth were talking quietly to each other again.

"I would like to take a walk," Leander said as he finished his pancakes. "When we finish breakfast will you three walk with me before I leave?"

"Yes," Bracken answered. Kendra and Seth both nodded but Kendra looked as if she would cry again.

Placing their forks on their plates, Kendra gathered them and took them to the sink. Just then, Maeve entered the room. Leander stood up as she walked through the door.

"It was nice to meet you," he said politely but left the room quickly before she could reply.

Maeve turned to watch the apparently sad young man quickly walk through the door. His polite but brief farewell disturbed her. He had fit well with the other children here. They had become close friends it seemed, now he had to leave. She turned back and saw the unhappy faces of the others as they passed her and followed him out the door. They felt the same sadness.

Farewells are sad, she thought, but disappearances were sadder. She wished that he had found her son's body so she could have …peace? …closure? …knowledge? As long as they presumed him dead and his body was unfound, she would think of him as possibly alive somewhere, like she had been, trapped.

She could now imagine how Celebrant had felt when she disappeared. How would he feel about her now? Centuries had passed, had he changed? Of course, he had changed… but how much? She held on to the hope that he was coming to see her because he still cared.

They walked slowly toward the little barn, each with their own thoughts. The distractor spell was still in effect so when they reached the cairn stones Bracken and Kendra led Seth and Leander to the door.

They stood at the door of the building together and looked in. It was empty as expected. Leander went to the center of the room and sat down facing them. The little barn was dark and cool. The sunlight though visible through the west window did not illuminate the barn's interior.

"We will be right outside," Kendra said sadly. She saw the imprint of Raxtus' clawed foot in the dirt and tears threatened to start falling again.

Bracken didn't want him to do this but after his revealing speech, he couldn't come up with a reason to stop him. He stood with his arm around Kendra and felt her shiver.

Seth stood looking at his friend, shaking his head and sighing.

Leander smiled glumly at them. "I won't be long," he said wondering just what he was going to do. He hadn't decided yet … or had he? He had thought he would use the time to make a decision but he was pretty sure he'd already made up his mind not to do anything.

The three walked back out into the sunshine and closed the door.

A few minutes later Seth started fidgeting. He thought it should be warmer with the sun beating down on them. Something was wrong.

"I don't like this. I have a bad feeling about this," Seth said with a sudden twitch of his head.

"We all feel bad…" Kendra replied.

"Something doesn't feel… right." He turned and hurriedly opened the door.

Closest to the opening door Kendra gasped when she felt the sudden cold chill of evil as the door opened. "Bracken…" she breathed.

"NO!" Bracken yelled as he also felt the chill and saw Leander's prone figure.

As he ran toward Leander, he pulled his long sword from its sheath on his back and it shifted back into a spiraling unicorn horn. He positioned the tip of it to Leander's chest above his heart and began channeling healing energy into him. The pulse in his neck was weak but slowly strengthening. What alarmed him was the evil darkness that blocked Leander's mind.

Leander began to twitch and tremble on the ground. His eyes moved behind closed lids, his clenched jaw was motionless but slight grunting moans escaped his throat. His face became a mask of terror and his movement stopped as if he were abruptly frozen in place.

Kendra and Bracken looked at each other in panic, wondering what was happening in their friend's mind.

_Leander was freezing but he also shivered in panic and pain. For days the dark shadowy dragons had hovered menacingly over him as he lay terrified unable to move on the ice cold floor. They enjoyed torturing him, occasionally toasting the skin on his arms or legs with breathy threads of fire or spitting scalding water or globs of acid on his body. Now one drew a line down his naked back with a razor sharp claw. He felt the skin pop and rip open like a zipper, blood flowed barely warming his cool skin. Pain ripped through him but there was nothing he could do. Paralyzed by dragonfear he couldn't even scream._

Seth felt the chill but also caught the direction of a fleeing dark one. He ran around the outside of the building to see a shadow flying high circling above the building.

"Come to me," Seth commanded the wraith. It resisted. "What did you do?" he demanded of the shade.

"I stopped the tracker. He will not find what he is looking for." Seth heard the arrogant wispy voice in his mind.

"Who told you to do this? Who let you in? Tell me!" he demanded.

The wraith squealed, suddenly frightened, its smugness gone but it could not answer him.

"Call your master and then come down here. NOW!" he called, putting as much authority as he could into the command.

There was an inhuman but entreating scream. The wraith writhed involuntarily destroying itself, portions of it ripped away. Dissolving into an indistinct haze it fought against some other conflicting command. Seth felt its dark energy dissipate as the final shadowy wisp faded.

Seth ran back into the building to where Leander was lying on the ground between Bracken and Kendra.

"How is he?" he asked anxiously.

"He is healthy but unconscious," Bracken told him. "Did you see what did this to him?"

"There was a wraith _outside_ the building but _inside_ the distractor spell," he said angrily.

"I've done all I can do." Bracken said and lifted the horn and it shifted back into a sword. Bracken slid it into the scabbard on his back.

"Maybe I can help him," Seth said crowding against Kendra. He could sense the dark shadow on Leander's mind.

"Did you talk to it? Find out why it did this?" Kendra asked. Her eyes filled with tears as she held Leander's hand and stroked his cheek.

"It said it stopped the tracker so that he will not find what he is looking for. But some control stronger than mine was able to gag it. My command to come to me destroyed it. But I think it called its master to come here. I need to be quick," he said impatiently and intentionally nudged Kendra aside. He was afraid for Leander but he was also afraid of what might be coming.

Seth placed his hands on Leander's head, cleared his mind and called to his friend. Easily locating the dark shadow that the wraith had placed in his mind, he ordered it to be gone.

"_Leander!" _

_He heard his name. The shadowy dragons looked up._

"_Leander!" Seth was calling. "Be gone," he told the dragons. _

_They faded into a wispy fog and disappeared, his fear dissipating as quickly. The chill in his body and the pain slowly left._

_Seth covered him with a warm blanket and helped him up. Leander hugged him tightly. "Thank you! Thank you for finding me!" he cried._

"_You're welcome. Are you okay now?" Seth asked him concerned, handing him his clothes._

"_Yes, I'm fine now." He smiled at his best friend as he slipped into his clothes. He was warm and the pain was now gone._

_Seth turned to walk away. "What is that?" he asked and pointed. _

_Leander looked where he was pointing. There was a small dense shadow with a few tiny multi-colored balls of lights swirling around it in the corner of the room._

"_I don't know – nothing – I suppose. It's been there forever," he replied indifferently. He gazed away uninterested, looking back at Seth._

_Seth walked over to the dark shadow and pushed it. It didn't move. The lights continued to swirl around it, occasionally hitting it._

"_Be gone," he said to the shadow. It wavered but remained. He got mad and kicked at it. It wavered again but stayed a dense shadow. _

"_BE GONE!" he commanded forcefully and the shadow disappeared._

Satisfied that Leander's mind was clean and clear Seth released him, stood up and nodded to Kendra.

Leander was no longer motionless. He roused slightly and moaned but his eyes didn't open. He was breathing unevenly and he was twitching as if he was still having a bad dream.

_Seth was suddenly gone but Leander wasn't alone, the swirling lights illuminated a large dragon egg rocking on the ground in front of him._

_Bemused he sat cross legged in front of the egg. He could see his reflection in the shiny silver and blue egg. It rocked precariously and he pulled it into his lap. A thrumming vibration from within the egg made him curious and he put his hands around the egg. He could feel the strange cool warmth of the egg with his hands and through his jeans. The lights swirled around them both now, whirling around, orbiting between his head and the egg. _

_Released from the shadow, the lights revealed a hidden memory._

'"_You have no magic," the evil black face of Navarog the demon dragon appeared and a shadow crept into the unhatched dragon's mind. The shadow pushed and pulled all of Raxtus' immature magic away, ripping it from where it belonged. Once out of its place the shadow moved between his magic and its home keeping it from reentering its place of potential power. The young magic swirled around the shadow impotently trying to find a way back to its home.'_

_The shadow was gone now. He felt the dragonet trying to stretch within the constricting confines of the shell and he heard a crack. His non-memory came back to him, the sound, something about that sound. The lights that had orbited around both of them now swirled crazily around the egg. Another cracking sound and he could see a hairline crack in the shell, the lights wriggled and writhed at the crack and worked their way inside._

_Suddenly he was inside the egg, he _was_ Raxtus. The lights surrounded him, filling him with the warmth of his lost magic and strength as it found its home. He opened his eyes and saw the shell from the inside; he felt the heat from whoever was cradling his egg._

_Crack the shell, he thought frantically unable to breathe properly. Get out now._

_Use me, the magic offered. He breathed and felt his breath turn icy and flow over his teeth. Ice crystals spread and ran along the crack in the egg and the crack enlarged. He breathed again and the crystals popped the shell open. He was able to take a deep breath now._

_Suddenly Leander looked down into the familiar eyes of a silver white dragonet as it looked up into his familiar eyes. The cool dragonet snuggled into the warmth of his chest and faded as he was absorbed into himself. Leander felt the warmth and strength of dragon magic double inside him and as it flowed through him it tripled. The resonating power frightened him and he didn't know what was happening._

"_I am now at your command," the power spoke to him._

_What did that mean? Leander shivered. _

"I lifted the darkness from his mind but I don't know how soon he will come around. Bracken, let's find out what comes to the call the wraith made," Seth said with authority.

Kendra looked up at her brother, he looked… old and grim.

"Kendra, you stay with him," Bracken said, wishing there were other options.

"I won't leave him alone," she said tears running down her face. "How did it get in? The protection spell, it was warded. Nothing or no one should have gotten in," she mumbled to herself.

Seth and Bracken both wondered the same thing. Bracken hoped the easy answer was that someone had found a magical loophole, the other answer was too frightening to think about - powerful wizard or demon.

When they left the building Seth turned to Bracken. "I recognized the wraith's 'feel'. I think it was from the Black well."

"Blackwell Keep in Wyrmroost?" Bracken said in disbelief. The frightening answer to Kendra's question was becoming more likely, unfortunately.

"Yes," he confirmed ominously.

Who or what might be coming?


	34. Complicated Situation

Complicated Situation

Based on characters from Fablehaven© by Brandon Mull. The original characters and plot details are my property. No copyright infringement intended.

Leander opened his eyes and saw the ceiling of a dimly lit barnlike building. He didn't know where he was. He blinked his eyes trying to shake off the fuzzy feeling in his brain.

"Seth said you will be drowsy for a while," a girl's voice said sadly.

He looked over into the girl's teary eyes.

"Who are you?" he asked. He had his head in the lap of a very pretty but very sad girl. Her warm hand was holding his hand resting on his chest. Her other hand caressed his cheek.

"I'm Kendra, your friend," she replied. "Do you know who you are?" she asked. She didn't want to panic too soon, after all a wraith had zapped him and Seth had been in his mind messing around.

Who am I? He thought staring at the ceiling.

Who am I? He thought again and the answer that came to him was unexpected.

Oh! Huh? What am I? He thought surprised and confused. He lifted his head and looked at his body he was definitely human. He lowered his head back into her lap and looked into her eyes.

"Um, I'm Leander Day but somehow I think I'm also a dragon named Raxtus. Is that right?" he answered reluctantly. He expected her to laugh at him but she didn't laugh. She just nodded.

Suddenly it sounded like all hell had broken loose just outside the door. Leander jumped up, got his bearings and stumbled to the door. He walked out into the bright sunlight looking for the source of the horrific caterwauling and screeching metallic noise.

Also curious, Kendra followed Leander out of the building. Her eyes widened in alarm when she saw Bracken and Seth armed with swords. Then she stood frozen with terror as she caught sight of the demon moving into sight from around the corner of the building. Demons had that affect on most humans.

"This is crazy," Leander muttered staring wide eyed at the bizarre fight happening in front of him. He didn't notice Kendra freeze at the doorway.

Seth and Bracken were in combat against a nine foot tall foul looking demon. Bracken had one of his swords and Seth had the other. The caterwauling and screeching metallic sound was coming from the demon that was attacking them with ten inch claws and poison breath.

When unicorn horns transformed into swords it did not diminish their capacity to heal their wielders; therefore, the swirling poison cloud surrounding them had no effect. However, their small advantage was not gaining them any ground against the demon. The distractor spell had no effect on the demon or Bracken but Seth was limited to five feet from the building or the spell would send him running for the other side a thousand feet away.

The demon caught sight of Kendra and Leander as they appeared at the doorway and spat a concentrated cloud of poison toward them. Still able to move, Leander managed to jump away from the oncoming cloud. The roiling green miasma grazed his arm but Kendra, frozen with fear, received the full hit.

Leander saw her fall.

Several things happened at once in Leander's mind. First, he panicked seeing Kendra's face instantaneously turn a blistering red and he feared for her life, and then he felt his own excruciating pain. The skin on his hand and arm were blistering but the poison went deeper slowly worming its way into his body, causing his nervous system to shut down, the pain was so horrible. Then the voice he heard in his delirium came back to him; the voice that identified itself as his magic. "Use me! I am at your service," it stated calmly. Leander felt anything but calm, he felt he was dying.

"No! Kendra!" Bracken screamed and tried to get to her but the demon saw his movement and counter-moved to block him.

Knowing he was probably dead anyway, Leander screamed at the demon to gain its attention, hopefully at least, to allow Bracken to save Kendra. It turned back toward him. The demon growled and opened his maw to exhale more poison.

"No!" Leander roared. He reached deep inside himself and pulled the magic to him, all of it. He threw his hands up, palms forward. "Destroy," he breathed vengefully, believing it was his last breath. Chaos exploded in front of him and raced toward the demon. Lightening, ice and fire caught the demon in the chest. Instantaneously, it burst into thousands of tiny sparking burning hailstones, swirling in a bizarre crackling blizzard they rained across the grassy lawn.

With Leander's distracting scream, Bracken raced to Kendra's side, his sword shifting back into a unicorn horn, a healing wand. Even before the demon's dramatic explosive disappearance, he fearfully watched her as he neutralized the demon's poison and channeled his healing power. When she took a breath, he almost collapsed with relief. Leander's diversion allowed him to get to her in time. The crackling, icy heat of a spell racing past him and the exploding demon were something that occurred just on the edge of his awareness. His relief was stronger with the knowledge that he didn't have to return to the fight and leave Kendra again.

Seth tried desperately to use his shadow skills to influence the demon to stop or leave. He watched amazed as a speeding fireball hit the demon. Stunned he watched the demon explode and its burning remnants blow away from them. He wondered where the fireball had come from but was grateful for its appearance. He ran to his sister, gasping at the bright red burns and blisters on her exposed skin but sighed with relief when he realized she was still breathing and the redness was lessening with Bracken's healing ministrations.

As soon as the chaotic madness that had formed in front of Leander sped toward its intended target, he fell to his knees and began coughing. The spell drained the rest of his energy and left him weak. The nerves in his arm had shut down. His lungs burned as if he were on fire; he knew when his lungs shut down he would die. He collapsed to the ground but continued to cough feebly. He knew he was near death, with each breath he was surprised that he wasn't already dead.

Bracken sensed Leander's weakened condition when he heard the desperate wheezing cough. He looked over where Leander had fallen next to him and noticed the red burns on him also. He lifted the horn from Kendra and reached out; the tip of it touched Leander's chest and healed him, neutralizing the demon's poison. With Leander's comforted sigh, Bracken's attention moved back to Kendra.

Leander breathed easier; the burning in his lungs was gone, the nerves in his arm started to tingle uncomfortably but healthily. He closed his eyes, relieved he wasn't going to die but he felt so drained, he just wanted to sleep.

Seth, tired from the fight, sat with his unconscious sister. He was gaping at the spectacle on the wide expanse of the grassy lawn. The small clumps of dirty-brown ice were still burning and sparking. It was definitely a weird and wonderful sight.

"Bracken, where did that come from?" Seth asked him waving his hand toward the field littered with burning ice and handed him his sword.

"I don't know," he replied, replacing his sword in its sheath, with a surreptitious look at Leander. "Let's get them into the building," Bracken said to Seth.

"I can't move," Leander whispered weakly.

Bracken picked up Kendra and carried her back into the relative safety of the building.

Seth crouched next to Leander's head, slipping his hands under Leander's arms and around his chest. He easily lifted and pulled his friend up from the ground. He was surprised how light Leander was, he seemed so muscular and he ate so much at every meal that Seth expected him to weigh about the same or more than he did. Seth quickly moved him inside the building. Leander didn't open his eyes or respond at all, his heels dragging in the dirt. He settled Leander flat on the floor next to where Bracken had brought Kendra. Seth thought he looked uncomfortable with his hands at his side, so he placed them on his stomach and rummaged in the backpack for something to put under his head. He found a towel and rolled it up like a pillow. He put his hand under Leander's neck and raised his head.

Leander gasped and cursed. "Well, that did it," he sighed, his voice a soft whisper, his eyes still closed. Bracken who was cradling Kendra's head in his lap looked up at the unexpected and uncharacteristic outburst.

"Did I hurt you?" Seth asked stopping his attempt to move Leander's head.

"No. I'm screwed," he sighed again. "I'm human now no matter what."

"You renounced your dragon form," Seth said sadly, remembering the reason Leander went into the little barn in the first place.

"No, I didn't. I changed my mind," he whispered sadly.

Bracken looked back at Kendra relieved with the news, but he continued to listen to their whispered conversation.

"What is the problem then?" Seth asked, confused.

"When I woke up I didn't know myself… I heard the … screams. I saw her fall … you couldn't get to her. I had to do something … so I threw all of me …" Leander's voice faded into silence.

"All of you? What do you mean?" Seth asked puzzled not sure he had heard his soft voice correctly.

"That was powerful dragon magic. That was you?" Bracken said with sudden realization at what had happened. He hadn't actually seen anyone cast the spell. He had only heard and seen the result. Leander had done it, somehow.

"What? You found your… dragon magic?" Seth stammered looking from Bracken to Leander and back again.

"What did I do?" Leander asked, his voice a gravelly whisper. He was unable to open his eyes or turn his head he was so exhausted.

"Well, if you did that, you cast a spell, a massive spell. I felt fire and ice and maybe lightening or electricity," Bracken told him.

"I saw a crackling fireball hit the demon and explode it, and I saw wind, if you can see wind. It blew all that burning demon ice away from us. None of it hit us or even came close," Seth added, thoroughly awed that it was Leander who had cast the spell.

"You are going to be very tired for a while since you have never cast spells before, it could have killed you. That was quite a feat of magic, but I think that if you had held back anything we would still be fighting the demon," Bracken told him, worried but very impressed.

"Can't revert to Raxtus anymo…" he said and his voice faded away again.

"No one saw what you did, except us," Seth told him. "We killed the demon, well, you killed it," he admitted.

Bracken reached over and laid his hand on Leander's chest not exactly healing him but giving him more strength.

"Doesn't matter," he moaned feeling some of his strength return. "If Raxtus is anywhere near another dragon they will know."

"Know what? That you have dragon magic now?" Bracken asked.

"Yes … I cast frost magic," Leander answered softly, reluctantly.

"Oh crap," Seth gasped, he could barely hear him but he did catch the last two words. The two words Leander considered his death sentence.

"Oh Leander," Bracken sighed sadly. It was the worst good news that the boy could get.

"Uh huh!" he sighed, he wanted to cry but he didn't have enough energy.

"But how will they know?" Seth asked him.

Long moments passed as Leander gathered enough strength to speak again.

"Dragons have their way of knowing. Once you reach a certain age a mature dragon can scan you and know you…." His whispered voice faded away as tears formed in his eyes. He remember his recent dreams, his father scanning him, knowing him…

"So if they scan you, they know what you can do, but only if you are in your dragon form," Bracken clarified.

"Yes," he hissed and several tears ran down his cheek.

"So now you have to deal with magic," Bracken said wondering what had happened to cause the dragon magic to appear suddenly. He was certainly grateful that it had, for without his help Kendra would have died. Leander was definitely a mystery.

"Yes, that too," he sighed and took a moment to breathe slowly. The tears stopped forming though his sadness had not. His heart ached with the thought that he was indeed a Frost dragon. He did not want the dubious distinction, and just acknowledging it felt like a horrible curse.


	35. Awkward Assistance

Awkward Assistance

Based on characters from Fablehaven© by Brandon Mull. The original characters and plot details are my property. No copyright infringement intended.

"I'd never want to be a magic user," Leander sighed and took a deep breath. "I just want to be normal," his voice was a loud whisper as he said the words with conviction.

"That isn't going to happen or at least I hope not," said a familiar voice.

Seth flinched at the voice and Bracken turned to see the human form of Celebrant walk through the door.

Leander's heart jumped and began pounding in his chest as he recognized the voice of his father's avatar. Already weak from the stress, the additional tension made him pass out.

Bracken moved away from Kendra and stood protectively in front of the group pulling his sword from its hip sheath.

"Celebrant? How did you get in here?" Bracken asked suspicion dripping from every word, his other hand slowly moving toward the second sword on his back. The thought that Celebrant might have the power to control a wraith from Wyrmroost, had already entered his mind.

Celebrant raised his eyebrow at Bracken's defensive stance and tone but he remained close to the door.

"I brought him," said another familiar voice. The Fairy Queen walked in behind him.

"Mother? What is going on?" Bracken asked. His stance relaxed but he still held his sword.

She smiled and glanced at Celebrant gesturing for him to speak.

"I came as soon as I knew that the demon was headed here. I found a few good leads after you left the Keep. Several wily creatures are loyal to me and let me know about the demon. I followed him but I couldn't get through the distractor spell so I had to petition the Queen. I am relieved that you were able to take care of the problem yourselves," Celebrant told the group. "Nice job whoever did that," he commented as he looked out the door at the still burning pieces of demon ice.

Bracken looked beseechingly at his mother. She had no comment as she smiled at her son and moved closer to him. She looked at the injured children on the ground, even Seth looked a little ill. She crouched next to Kendra, stroked her forehead and sighed.

She noticed that Leander was unconscious and placed her hand on his head.

Leander awakened feeling some strength entering his body. He opened his eyes and smiled at the welcome sight of the Fairy Queen. His heart settled into a regular rhythm but he was still terribly weak, even the Fairy Queen could not restore what the spell had drained from him.

Bracken sheathed his sword and sat on the floor next to Kendra. The Fairy Queen lifted her hand from Leander and turned back to him and Kendra. They began silently communing over Kendra's condition.

"Tracker, why do you want to be normal? Normal is boring," Celebrant said. Pulling his attention back from the burning spectacle scattered across the lawn, he looked at Leander.

"What do you care?" he replied in a hoarse whisper still unable to move.

"You found my mate and I wanted to thank you. You are an extraordinary tracker, so I am wondering why you want to be normal. Maybe I should know more about you, Leander," Celebrant said suggestively, looking down at the young man with interest.

"You're welcome and… no, thank you," Leander whispered weakly, cringing at his father's words.

"He was getting ready to leave the sanctuary since he no longer has a job. He was going back to his regular life when the demon attacked us," Seth answered for his weakened friend.

"You were the missing dragon's father?" Leander asked in an almost breathless whisper, remembering that officially _he_ had never met Celebrant and _his_ verbal confession of disliking dragons. Even though it was difficult and his mind was fuzzy, thinking was about the only thing he could do at the moment. Movement was out and speaking was only marginal because he had to move his mouth.

"Yes," Celebrant answered sadly, the news of Raxtus' apparent demise had arrived just moments before he had found out about the demon. He hadn't had time to accept the truth of the news; he was still in denial.

"Sorry for your loss but everything is okay," he raised his voice above a whisper. "Now…_you can leave_," his said letting his anger show.

"Thank you, but it looks like you need help getting anywhere," he grinned at Leander's rather impotent hostility.

"We are doing okay," Seth said nervously eyeing the two supernatural celebrities. He sat protectively next to Leander. "We can handle Leander and Kendra. We just need to get them back to the house so they can rest. Bracken healed both of them. Right, Bracken?" Seth tried to get Bracken's attention but he was still hovering over Kendra with his mother.

"I suppose we could use the help to get them back to the main house," Bracken conceded, watching his mother. "The distractor spell was a concern. I was going to have to take them one at a time." Seth glared at him in disbelief.

The Fairy Queen nodded and stood. "You carry Kendra. I'll walk with Seth and assist Celebrant who will carry Leander," she decreed – no one ever argued with her.

Celebrant walked to where Seth was sitting with Leander. Leander squeezed his eyes shut as if in pain, refusing to look at the man walking toward him.

Seth stood up staring at the big man. He backed up and watched as Celebrant crouched and easily lifted Leander from the floor.

Leander didn't want to talk to his father. He was dying to know how much of their conversation the pair had heard before they entered the building. He realized that he probably only heard the last sentence because of Bracken's shield. Until he was in the doorway, he probably would have heard nothing.

"That was some spell. Who cast it?" Celebrant asked Leander.

He did not answer and kept his eyes closed.

"Why don't you want talk to me?" Celebrant asked, looking down at the young man.

"Tired... was poisoned… when it happened… don't know …anything," he replied in a breathless whisper, telling a half truth.

"You are leaving Fablehaven?" Celebrant tried again to start a conversation with him.

"Runt dragon … dead… not needed," he whispered curtly.

"My son's name was Raxtus and I will miss him. I am grateful for the search and the results that you found," Celebrant said sadly.

Leander's was surprised at his statement and found it hard to believe.

"I had a job, tried my best. Seth and Bracken found the clues you needed," he whispered, hoping the conversation would end so he could rest. His strength was very slow to return.

"You don't need work? What if I need a tracker?" Celebrant continued to try to engage him in conversation.

"I did this for my friend Bracken. I don't track for dragons," Leander whispered coldly, his anger giving his voice more strength.

"You seem mad at me in particular. Why?" Celebrant asked curiously.

Leander took a deep painful breath and continued in his thin whisper. "You're a dragon and I don't like dragons – in particular. A demon just attacked and poisoned me. I'm hurt and angry. If I bother you… you can leave me here and be on your way. My friends can take care of …" his weary whispered voice trailed off.

Leander could feel that they were moving but he refused to open his eyes and see where they were heading. He could almost feel the distractor spell pushing at him but it was nowhere near the powerful feeling it had been when they had entered earlier.

Celebrant didn't seem to have any problems hearing Leander's breathless, basically silent whispers. He was pleased that he had kept the boy talking, even with his animosity towards him. Leander was bitter against dragons for some reason. Celebrant guessed he had suffered because of dragons at sometime. Still, the boy had excellent tracking abilities. Though he had not found Raxtus' body, he had located his mate and he was grateful for that.

"I think you are more than a tracker. I saw the results of the spell someone cast. I heard you say you didn't want to be a magic user. Why wouldn't you want to be a wizard or sorcerer if you could wield power like that? Is that what did this to your body?" Celebrant's voice was powerful and he did not lower his voice in response to the young man's whispered answers.

Crap, Leander thought, he did hear the comment about not wanting to be a magic user. Leander knew that everyone was listening to their conversation. He only wanted to maintain his identity. He was just Leander, a human tracker who disliked dragons, nothing else. Period.

"Demon poison did this to me. Um, wait, I thought dragons hated wizards?"

"Most do," Celebrant replied casually. "What makes you think you are a wizard?" he asked his voice curious again.

"I don't. I wouldn't want to be a magic user. I'm just glad to be a tracker. I may change my mind about this career too if stuff like that is going to happen often. What makes _you_ think I am? Did you get the wrong idea from my senseless words mumbled after being attacked by a demon?" His whispered question was curious. He wanted to maintain his pose as a human tracker but if there was something else, some small indication that he was something more, he needed to know that too.

"I'm sorry. I am just looking for something I may not find. I keep hoping Raxtus is alive somewhere, maybe in a human avatar. You showed up shortly after he disappeared. I thought that he would probably be angry with me and since you are, you seemed a likely candidate. You tracked and found his mother. I mistakenly surmised there might be a link between you two. I apologize for pushing you," he said apologetically. Seeing the boy in person definitely crushed his hope that he was Raxtus' avatar. "A person normally doesn't get lucky twice in a lifetime and finding Axezeles was a miracle. I suppose finding my mate after all these years had me hoping for even more good luck."

"Sorry, I can't help you," Leander sighed. He was safe in his lie so far. He relaxed as they made their way to the Fablehaven headquarters and fell into an exhausted sleep somewhere before they reached it.

Celebrant looked at the frail young man sleeping in his arms. While it was almost impossible for anyone to tell if a human was an avatar, there were telltale signs that he had noticed over his long years dealing with various avatars. The boy was thin and light. Though he looked a lot like Bracken, Celebrant dismissed the likelihood of a familial relationship or link to the fairy realm. A unicorn or other creature capable of invoking a human avatar would be much more robust, the boy in his arms was definitely a fragile human. The red burns on his hand, the sign of recent stitches on his face and deep wounds on his neck were clues of his human fragility. His recent wounds were fading, but it was an indication of Unicorn healing power.

Celebrant wanted to know who cast the spell that destroyed the demon because it was a great feat of magic. He hadn't seen anything like it since Morisant was around. It was ridiculous to think the boy could have done it, unaltered human's had minimal spell casting abilities. Celebrant was grasping at straws, but the children were covering for someone but whom? He hoped that Bracken would tell him later.

Celebrant walked behind the group now that they were out of the distractor field. Fairies swarmed around them, all fueled by their affection for the Queen, Bracken and unexpectedly the fairystuck girl. Several dozen fairies flew away after speaking to the Fairy Queen. He took a closer look at the girl in Bracken's arms. Her recently reddened skin looked unharmed quite a difference from what he had seen earlier.

The fairies ignored the boy as Celebrant ignored the one that had landed on his shoulder. Leander had passed out in the little barn, if he had had milk earlier it was no longer working for him. In this state, he was unaware of fairies surrounding them and they knew that he couldn't recognize them. Avatars didn't need milk to see the magic realm. It was the last clue that dashed Celebrant's hopes that Leander was Raxtus.

Seeing the tenderness and concern in which Bracken carried the girl, he started thinking about Axezeles. She would be at the house when they arrived. He was nervous and excited. So many centuries had passed, he had changed but had she, locked in a dragon version of stasis? He couldn't wait to see her. He had seen her avatar only once, and he wondered if he would recognize her.

Fairies swarmed the house making enough noise for Ruth and Marla to rush outdoors. Dale came running to the house from the barn. The fairies told them that the Fairy Queen was coming, but they couldn't get any real information from them before they all disappeared into the forest again. Ruth ran back into the house, got on the two-way radio to Stan and Scott. She told them to rush home something big was happening. She also called the Larsen's and asked them to come over quickly.

Mendingo rushed down the path toward Bracken ready to assist if needed but he had nothing to do but follow along, his metal joints jangling with anxious excitement. Doren, Newel and Verl another satyr came running toward them, attracted by the commotion. Verl started crying when he saw Kendra lying unconscious in Bracken's arms. Doren and Newel rolled their eyes at his reaction, they constantly teased him about his crush on Kendra. They were hoping to get the scoop on what happened since they were Seth's friends but the presence of the Fairy Queen stopped them in their tracks with stupid grins on their faces.

Stan and Scott arrived in the cart pulled by Hugo; closely followed by the Larsens in their truck. Their excited questions to the family found no answers. The entire family rushed to the edge of the garden. There was confusion and the forest was teeming with life with the Fairy Queen's arrival. Fairies were swarming everywhere.

Ruth wondered what had happened to cause all this fuss? They had just gone for a walk. Leander lay unconscious in Celebrant's arms and Kendra unconscious in Bracken's arms. The Fairy Queen was walking with them.

Maeve and Unleea stood by the house, out of the chaos of family coming and going, the rushing about. There was major uncertainty of what was happening and why the Fairy Queen was involved.

She wondered what had happened to the children.

Maeve smiled when she recognized Celebrant. She had seen his human form many times.

"Who is that?" Unleea tugged on Maeve's shirt, pointing. When she got no answer she looked up at Maeve who was staring at them too, a smile on her face.

Maeve was preoccupied watching Celebrant walking toward the house.

"Who is that?" Unleea tugged on Maeve's shirt again.

"What?" she asked, finally responded to the girl.

"Who is _that_? The beautiful lady standing next to Bracken," Unleea asked, pointing.

"Oh, she is the Fairy Queen," Maeve replied casually.

Unleea lost her balance and abruptly sat on the ground, stunned that she was actually seeing the Fairy Queen in person. She was speechless. Eyes wide and silent, she watched the group at the edge of the garden.

The Fairy Queen stayed on the pathway. She bid farewell to her son and gave Kendra one last healing touch.

"Take good care of her," she said to Bracken her concerned expression slowly turned to a radiant smile as she looked at her son.

"Yes, I will," he smiled in return.

She acknowledged the Sorensons and Larsens, who were rushing forward, with a nod but turned away heading down the path toward the Pavilion Garden. All the fairies and many other creatures, including Doren, Newel and Verl, escorted her to the shrine.

Unleea saw her turn to leave and she tried to follow but Maeve held on to the girl's arm telling her she couldn't go it was dangerous. The Fairy Queen was not a social being.

Celebrant recognized everyone except one woman. That must be her, he thought. She stood back close to the house; her jet black hair glistened in the sunlight. She was beautiful and he was more nervous than ever, thanks to his human body's reaction to the 'woman' he loved.

Celebrant and Seth continued toward the house.

"What happened?" Stan converged on them.

"Uh, a demon attacked us and his poison got the two of them," Seth mumbled. "Bracken healed them but they are demon stunned and still a little out of it."

"Demon here? How?" he demanded. "Not even a major demon should be able to enter without permission."

Both Celebrant and Seth shrugged. Seth had thought they were all in Zzyzx anyway.

Stan turned his attention to Kendra and Bracken. Celebrant and Seth continued through the hedge into the garden. Celebrant's attention became totally focused on Maeve as they neared the house.

When Maeve and Celebrant got about ten feet apart Celebrant stopped. They stood staring at each other.

At Seth's urging, Dale approached Celebrant and took Leander from his arms. Dale followed Seth up to a second floor guest room where Leander would rest for now. Seth figured the attic was too far from the help he might need. Kendra's room was next to this one. Bracken would have the guest room on the other side of Kendra's room. Everyone else was very involved with Kendra's condition. Granted she was family and she did have more visual symptoms, her skin was still red, but Seth felt a little bitter because it seemed that only he was concerned with Leander's welfare.


	36. Normal Life

Normal Life

Based on characters from Fablehaven© by Brandon Mull. The original characters and plot details are my property. No copyright infringement intended.

Later that afternoon, after the situation settled down enough, they held a meeting. Kendra and Leander were resting. Ruth, Marla and Mrs. Larsen were comfortable with their physical condition. Although Seth and Bracken had answered specific questions, they hadn't told their story in its entirety.

Seth did his best to describe what had happened without lying and without letting any secrets out either.

"We went to the little barn and there was a wraith there, somehow inside the protection field. I asked it how it got there but it had already attacked Leander. When I commanded it to come to me, it disintegrated but it must have called the demon first. Kendra and Leander were in the barn when the demon arrived. Bracken and I were fighting it but it managed to send poison toward Kendra and Leander when they came out the door. I was busy watching the demon, trying to keep it from attacking again when a whooshing fireball flew at the demon and hit it in the chest. It shattered into gross looking hailstones that burned and sparked and a wind blew it across the lawn away from us."

"Did you see who cast the spell?" Stan asked.

"I have no idea where the fireball came from. I was staring at the demon to keep from being attacked." Seth answered truthfully. "I was trying my best to command the demon away or at least get it to stop its attack."

Everyone looked to Bracken. Who quickly volunteered, "I didn't see a thing either, Leander distracted the demon for a moment and I rushed to Kendra to neutralize the poison. A few seconds later Leander fell next to me and I heard the noise of the spell. I reached out and neutralized the poison in his body too. However, I didn't see who cast the spell. I couldn't tell you where it came from as I had my back to the demon. Stupid I know but I was more concerned about Kendra at that moment."

Celebrant was extremely disappointed that neither of them could identify the spell caster.

They spent hours discussing the disturbing fact that the demon was able to enter Fablehaven. Ruth brought down the journal and they checked it over, Leander's was the only new name added. Bracken insisted that Leander could in no way be responsible for the breach. He trusted him and so did his mother. In the wee hours of the morning, tired and out of options, they decided they had another mystery on their hands and called it a night.

Both Celebrant and Bracken stayed in Fablehaven. Celebrant and Maeve took a room at the old mansion with the Larsens. Occasionally the house darkened with the shadow of the two enormous dragons flying overhead but they typically stayed in their human shapes.

When Leander woke up, he was unable to do much. The powerful magic that had come at his command and poured out of his body had drained him taking all of his strength. He managed to turn his head to see where he was. He lay in a large bed and didn't recognize the room but Seth sitting next to him led him to believe he was still in Fablehaven. Seth gave him thumbs up, letting him know that everything was still good. He fell back to sleep almost immediately.

The next morning he was barely able to sit up. He couldn't lift his arms to feed himself but Seth, and Ruth had no problems helping him get food into his continuously grumbling stomach. No one forced him to do any more.

Bracken had one of the guest rooms and he was there every day healing Kendra a little at a time. Leander didn't need healing he was just exhausted. Bracken was only able to add a little strength to his body. Leander's present weakened condition was due mainly to his inexperience and startled panic that had led him to cast the powerful spell.

All the day before he laid in bed, today he was stronger now and could sit up by himself for a few minutes at a time. Kendra was doing better than he was. She was able to walk around; her symptoms were slowly fading, though climbing the stairs was still beyond her.

He could hear Bracken and Kendra walking around in her room. Kendra's voice was strong as they laughed and chatted. He wished he could get up and visit with them.

"How are you feeling?" Bracken asked as he came through the open door alone.

"Still shaky, but I think my arms are stronger today. I was able to shovel most of my pancakes into my mouth before Seth had to take over," he said and lifted his right arm and waved at him weakly before dropping it back to rest on the bed. He grimaced then laughed self-deprecatingly.

"Sorry I can't help more but channeling magic like you did drain something in your body my healing can't reach. Rest is the only cure. When you learn to use your magic, you will know how to channel energy more efficiently. It will get easier and you will get stronger," Bracken said encouragingly.

"I don't want to use it, don't even want it. If I hadn't done anything but distract the demon Celebrant and your mother would have come and destroyed the thing," Leander replied wearily and sourly. He wanted Bracken to make him laugh as he had done with Kendra, not bring up bad memories.

"But if you hadn't acted Kendra would be dead. If you had only distracted the demon, all of us might have died before they arrived. What you did was heroic," Bracken replied emphatically, reminding him what his action accomplished.

Leander wanted to believe Bracken was exaggerating. He was convinced the only person in danger of dying had been him, once Bracken reached Kendra. The spell had erupted spontaneously in reaction to the terrifying thought of losing his friends, especially Kendra. He was grateful he hadn't known the potentially lethal consequences of casting unfamiliar magic. Though in hindsight it felt good knowing he had rescued his friends.

"I'm glad I helped you get to Kendra and she didn't die but … I was beginning to believe I was just human, a little unusual that I could turn invisible but still human. Now …?" he shrugged.

He didn't tell Bracken that again he felt no magic, no hint of the power that had flowed through him so forcefully. He wondered if he had burned himself out with that one inexperienced blast. Rest, Bracken told him, all he needed was rest. Still, he hoped the magic had burned out, that it would never come back.

Days went by and Leander spent most of his time resting, practicing control of his facial expressions and thinking. Mostly he just needed to rest, but they all assisted with friendship, laughter was a good healer too.

The guest bedroom was becoming a hub of activity and he enjoyed the constant visitors. Celebrant and Maeve also made a few short visits to check on his recovery. They wanted him to know they were appreciative of his efforts and his role in finding Axezeles. He always exaggerated being tired and needing to sleep so they wouldn't stay too long. They seemed very happy together and he was content. They would be just fine without Raxtus.

Everyone accepted that Raxtus was dead. Even without a body there was no doubt in anyone's mind that Raxtus was gone. Seth and Kendra had told Leander that they were planning a memorial for Raxtus. He decided it was one event he didn't want to attend. Bracken agreed to find him a place to stay for a while. Later he could come back and accept Ruth's offer to stay at Fablehaven. When she brought meals to his room, she told him how she would love to have him live there with them. She always commented how he was 'such a sweet boy', making him blush furiously.

Since Kendra was doing so well, Grandma Larsen was worried why Leander's recovery was taking so much longer. Bracken explained to her that his was the nastiest case of poisoning. He had cured Kendra quickly and was hovering over her not knowing Leander was even hurt until he fell. Leander's exposure to less poison did severe damage because it remained in his body longer. She readily accepted his explanation.

Leander's problem now was to find something to do with his new life since he didn't have to pretend to look for the dragon. He didn't want to think about magic, given that there was no indication of the magic returning. He wanted to focus on being a normal human with a normal life. He felt the same as he had before the wraith attacked him, just human. Of course, he wasn't totally normal though because he knew about the sanctuary system but many normal humans dealt with that reality all the time. Couldn't he fit in, somewhere?

He couldn't live at Fablehaven forever, could he? Ruth said he could stay if he wanted. Kendra and Seth were going to grow up. Their grandparents were grooming them to take over as Caretakers some day. He could stay on and learn a job, maybe… eventually take a position on the staff. Due to his hoard, he didn't need money so he would just be here to help. He could actually pay them to let him live here.

He looked forward to having a long and happy relationship with his friends. Both Seth and Kendra would outlive most other human's since their magical abilities endowed them with an extended lifespan but they would eventually die. Bracken, of course, was virtually immortal and would be there when Leander died, hopefully of old age. A strange but comforting thought.

He assumed he was going to remain a 'boy' for a long time. This was a condition they would have to figure out how to explain to the current caretaker's without letting them know he was a dragon. Seth would help him come up with an explanation sometime in the future, like getting hit with some spell that stopped him from showing signs of aging. He would look like a sixteen year old for a hundred years, and then he would look like a seventeen year old boy for as long. Growing up was going to take a long time. He told Bracken he would deal with it and he would. Wasn't frustration and moodiness part of being a human teenager? He had that part down well enough.

If Bracken and Kendra married and had children, he was unsure where their children would fall in the hierarchy of the fairy realm. He didn't know if they would be immortal like their father or have a lifespan somewhere between Kendra and himself.

Someday when Seth and Kendra were gone, and it broke his heart to think of such a thing, perhaps he could continue to work with their children and grandchildren when they became Caretaker's of Fablehaven. He even had a vague thought of having a family of his own one day.

Maybe he could become a real tracker and travel the world looking for the lost or stolen. He had already helped the Fairy Queen with bequests she had given Raxtus and he knew he had a natural knack for it. He had been to every sanctuary and he knew them all very well. He had even gotten an introduction to the Living Mirage. Except working by himself or being alone again wasn't tempting, he liked being with his friends.

Right now, the best prospect for a job was working with Seth, who needed a new partner. He would like working with Seth, and being a tracker would add to their 'portfolio of services' as Seth called it. They had already been discussing the possibility the last few nights before Seth went to bed. Actually, Seth liked the idea very much; he had been doing most of the talking and was desperately trying to get Leander to agree. Leander had been too tired to commit to anything so he kept putting any decision off, but now he was seriously considering it.

He knew the magical world intimately, what he didn't know well was the human world. Their trip into town had showed him how much he didn't know. As a dragon, he had only gotten hints and glimpses of it as he had sat invisible watching movies at the drive-ins. He had seen limited interaction at football games in open stadiums, concerts in outdoor arenas and eavesdropping on conversations.

Becoming human had changed everything. His new awareness was so unlike what he had expected. Now awash with human hormones and emotions, his brain translated people's actions another way. He knew he would react differently to the exact same stimuli. His friends would assist him, especially Seth. Any question he asked he would get an answer because Seth would talk about anything. Kendra would keep him from being a rude lout and if he needed extra help, Bracken was always the ancient voice of reason.

Raxtus was supposed to be dead so he couldn't revert to his dragon form, it was too dangerous. Even if he couldn't do magic any longer, the hint of it might still show up in his dragon form if he was scanned by another dragon. Since he could still turn invisible and if he needed to fly, he would catch a plane, he didn't have to use his dragon form.

Still, he couldn't bring himself to go back to the little barn and renounce his dragon form. It would hurt his friends too much for one thing. If his magic came back and he could cast spells like that massive chaotic mess he threw at the demon, he didn't want to know the power he would have wielded if he had renounced Raxtus. The reason wizards renounced their dragon form was because it released all the magic to their human body. Their magic power multiplied significantly. It was a terribly frightening thought that his magic strength might have doubled. Keeping Raxtus as a viable part of himself would restrict his magic power if it came back. He doubted that he would ever want to revert to Raxtus again so he would remain dormant. He meant what he said – he didn't want be a wizard.

Hoping the magic wouldn't return, he had to find alternative ways of protecting himself and his friends. His invisibility was great but if he worked with Seth he would need to learn to fight. He could no longer take the coward's way out. Happily, simple survival was no longer the focus his life.

With access to his hoard, he didn't need a real job to survive and acquire the things he needed. Working with Seth sounded like the best idea. He wondered what kind of adventures they could find by themselves.

He smiled thinking their first 'job' together would be to get some of his hoard. Seth would be impressed and jealous when he saw it. At least he hoped Seth would be impressed after he raided that other dragon's hoard. He knew Seth would try to figure out ways to get part of it but he didn't know how protective dragons were of their hoard. That part of his dragon nature hadn't changed. Still he would make sure he compensated Seth for his assistance. The mission would take some complex planning to get into and out of Wyrmroost unseen. Then he remembered he could take Seth to the little treasure room. That room they could empty and Seth would feel satisfied that Raxtus was a very rich dragon. It held treasure that would not be difficult to turn into cash. Seth would know how to go about converting the treasure into a fat bank account, leaving the rest for his hoped for future.

Leander had made up his mind just as Seth brought up a tray with food for the two of them. They ate quietly for a few minutes before he accepted Seth's offer to be a partner. Telling him that first he needed to learn self-defense and how to fight. Seth was very excited and began to ramble on about the things he had done and what Leander could expect when out on the hunt.

Leander finished off his dinner, listening to Seth chatter away. He was full, happy and knew what he was going to do with himself for the next few months or years.

A normal life, he thought dreamily, wondering what it will be like.

That evening he fell asleep dreaming of being Leander, not Raxtus, alone in his treasure cave. The smell of gold and sulfur filling his senses and his father didn't come crashing in.


End file.
